Secrets Of A Mafia Boss
by Koyuki11
Summary: There are many secrets to Tsuna that even he himself doesn't know about. However, he doesn't have time to figure out those secrets when dealing with Reborn in his already chaotic life. But that doesn't mean Reborn won't do his research. OOC Tsuna
1. Chapter 1 Death At Your Door

Summary: There are many secrets to Tsuna that even he himself doesn't know about. However, he doesn't have time to figure out those secrets when dealing with Reborn in his already chaotic life. But that doesn't mean Reborn won't do his research. OOC Tsuna

Rated T for just in case.

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

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**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 1:

Death At Your Door

A thirteen-year-old brunet held his phone in his right hand while walking home from his stroll as the sun was rising. The soft rays of the sun tapped against the windows of every house, waiting for the curtains to part so it could enter the dark rooms.

It was seven in the morning so not many people were outside. That left the brunet some privacy on his phone, which was custom-made for him. "Has Vongola Nono chosen his successor yet?" the brunet, Tsuna, asked as he readjusted his hold on the phone.

"No, but I heard there are only two candidates. Xanxus, the Varia leader, is one of them. But I don't know who the other candidate is," the voice on the other side replied.

"I wonder who the other candidate is. Anyway, Shoichi-kun, do you have anything else to report?" Tsuna questioned. He turned his gaze to the sky to watch the clouds painted with pink and purple pass by.

"Reborn, Nono's most trusted assassin, is heading to Japan, Namimori to be precise. I heard a rumor that he's coming to train the other candidate," Shoichi said. Tsuna let out a sigh of relief; it looked like his failed attempt at hacking into Vongola's database was not discovered. His mouth turned into a small smile at the memory; it was not his fault Shoichi refused to teach him how to hack. "There's also an invitation to join the Millefiore Famiglia."

"Tell them I'm not interested in joining and say it in a way that doesn't anger their boss," Tsuna replied. He was not interested in joining a Mafia Famiglia. Not only would it limit his freedom for his hobbies, it would put unnecessary pressure on him when he wanted to relax. It would take away the peace he treasured. "I'll talk to you later. I have a feeling something is going to happen soon."

Tsuna placed his phone in his pocket before opening the gate to his house. As he walked towards the door, he took out his keys and inserted it into the keyhole. Then he opened the door to hear his mother cooking in the kitchen. He let a smile appear on his face before heading towards the table where his mother placed a plate of toast and sunny-side up eggs as well as a glass of milk.

When Tsuna began eating, Nana smiled to herself. Her son was becoming more like Iemitsu in her eyes, and she could tell he was learning more about responsibility and leadership, although she did not know who or where he learned it. Nevertheless, she wanted to help her son be the best he could be so she had a surprise for him.

"Tsu-kun, there was an interesting flyer in the mail today," Nana began. Tsuna looked up momentarily from eating as he swallowed a piece of egg. "It was about a home tutor. I gave him a call when you were on your stroll."

"Kaa-san, I don't need a tutor," Tsuna commented, but he was ignored.

"I will train your child to become the next leader of the new generation. Grade and subject doesn't matter. Reborn." Nana folded the letter before moving her gaze towards the brunet. "Isn't it great? I've never seen a promotion like this before. It's probably a tutor from a professional business school for young men. I've wanted a teacher like this for you."

"It's probably a scam," Tsuna said indifferently, but on the inside, he cared. He recognized the name "Reborn" in the letter. There was a possibility that this Reborn and the one coming to train the candidate was the same. _But why would he come here?_ "When the tutor comes, tell him you were mistaken. I don't need a tutor."

Tsuna stood up from his chair and grabbed his school bag that was previously placed by the table before heading towards the door. When he twisted the doorknob, an infant greeted him outside. "Ciaossu." Tsuna looked down and recognized the person as Reborn. He calmed himself on the inside to avoid suspicion and noted in the back of his mind that Reborn looked less intimidating than he initially imagined. "You're Tsuna?"

The brunet nodded before asking, "Who are you?" Meanwhile, Nana approached the two before standing next to her son.

"I'm the home-tutor, Reborn." The infant waited to see Tsuna and Nana's reactions, which were silence and staring. Then the brunet shook his head.

"Kaa-san, please guide the infant home. I have to head to school now or I'll be late." Tsuna proceeded to walk around Reborn while hoping the infant would not follow him. While Tsuna was gone, Reborn showed Nana his tutor card and was welcomed into the house. Nana went to the kitchen to prepare a meal for the infant while Reborn slipped out of the house to follow his new student.

Tsuna forced himself to walk calmly because he was sure Reborn was following him. He mentally prepared himself for the acting he was about to do. "Who was that infant? He was probably part of a prank someone made."

"I wouldn't use such primitive methods just to annoy you," Reborn said as he landed on Tsuna's head. "Also, I'm a hitman."

"A hitman? Can't you make a better lie?" Tsuna replied while hoping Reborn bought his acting. Reborn was not affected by the comment.

"It's the truth. I've been assigned by Nono to make you a respectable Mafia boss. You are a candidate to become Vongola Decimo: the tenth boss of the most powerful Mafia Famiglia." Tsuna shrugged his shoulders, showing his incredulity. However, internally, Tsuna was slightly panicking. _I need to inform Shoichi-kun about this. It looks like I can't contact him for a while now._

"Good morning Tsuna-kun. Who's this?" Tsuna turned his gaze to the left and saw Kyoko, his friend and someone he developed a few feelings for. However, he knew those feelings were just passing.

"Good morning Kyoko-chan. This is Reborn," Tsuna replied as he felt his eyes twitch when Reborn refused to get off his head. Kyoko walked over to Tsuna while lifting her gaze to Reborn. Then she brought a piece of candy out of her school bag and handed it to the infant.

"Here you go Reborn-kun. If I may ask, why are you wearing a suit?" Kyoko asked curiously. Reborn took the offered sweet and began to unwrap it.

"I'm in the Mafia," the infant said before placing the sweet in his mouth. Tsuna could not help but roll his eyes at the infant's response.

"Ah, how cute." The brunet noticed Kyoko's eyes stayed on Reborn and would not move until he interrupted.

"Kyoko-chan, don't you have to go to school early today for the Leadership Committee?" Tsuna reminded. Kyoko's gaze broke off the infant's form, and she sent the brunet a grateful smile.

"That's right. Thank you for reminding me. I'll see you in class," Kyoko said as she waved goodbye. Tsuna returned the wave and stared at her retreating form for a second too long before directing his attention to Reborn.

"You shouldn't tell people lies about being in the Mafia," Tsuna said as he resumed his walk to school. He felt Reborn's gaze bore into his skull and hoped the infant did not figure out his oblivious student act.

"You have a crush on her, don't you?" Reborn questioned. Tsuna was a bit taken aback and felt his face heat up for a second before he answered.

"How would you know?" Tsuna could sense the growing smirk on the infant's face.

"As your tutor, I should be informed about these kinds of relationships. But it looks like your crush isn't enough for you to be in a fan club," Reborn said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Tsuna shrugged as his face cooled down.

"You won't see me goggling at her. I mostly respect her as a friend or classmate. Also it's useless for someone like me to confess my feelings," Tsuna said. He had a feeling that if he did, Kyoko would be in more danger. The Mafia was cruel, after all.

"That's a strong loser complex," Reborn commented, which gathered a little resentment from the brunet. The infant jumped off the brunet's head as Tsuna glared at him.

"Leave me alone." He walked away from Reborn, only to pause in his steps when he heard the next words.

"It's finally time." Tsuna turned around to see Reborn pointing a gun to his head. "Die." _Oh shoot. Has my cover been blown?_

He tried to postpone the shot by speaking, although he knew it was a useless effort. "That's a toy, right?"

"Go die once," Reborn said, which caused Tsuna to panic. He felt his palms begin to sweat and his throat closing, causing no last words to leave his lips as Reborn pulled the trigger. He thought for the rest of his life he would regret this single action.

Tsuna dodged the bullet.

His mind was hazy by the overwhelming anxiety and his body had resorted to habit. It was not intentional for him to dodge the bullet, but he could not think of any other action. However, when the bullet missed his head, he saw an image of a flame imprinted on it. It was the Dying Will Bullet. _As long as I regret something, I should have come back to life. Maybe it was better to get hit with it after all. Now my cover is blown._

After Tsuna sidestepped the bullet, everything changed. He could not take his gaze away from Reborn as his body momentarily froze. There was new regret in his eyes as he noticed Reborn's face was shadowed by his fedora. Then he performed the unthinkable again.

He ran away.

Tsuna clutched his school bag with his eyes wide. He could barely hear the other students snickering at him since they thought he was running away from the average bully.

When he entered homeroom, he headed to his seat and set down his bag. Then he pulled out his cell phone under his desk.

_I am the other candidate to become Vongola Decimo. The bad thing is Reborn came over to tutor me and I think my cover as the "oblivious" student is blown. If I don't contact you within a week, assume the worst and pretend you don't know me._

_ -Tsuna_

Tsuna sent the message to Shoichi and trusted he would inform the others about it. The brunet sighed and looked out the window in an attempt to scan the area to find Reborn. Thankfully, he did not see the infant. Tsuna took in a deep breath before releasing it to calm himself. He would have to contact his mother to tell her that he might not come home for a couple of weeks.

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A/N: This is my first fanfic published on this site. In other words, I am sincerely happy if you read this story! It would be nice and very helpful if you readers could review whenever you can. Just tell me what you like about it, what you dislike, and anything else. Thank you for taking the time to read this story (and author note)!

**Rewritten: April 10, 2013**


	2. Chapter 2 According To Plan

A/N: Thank you Phantom Hitman 1412, culdoran, Mutsumi Ayano, Mischievously, Yuu3, mangopudding, Mockingjay Rose, nwyd, PuroCieloFiamme, Skymory, Metue, Kitsura E, shimaxkutau, and Yoshikuni Itoe for your reviews! And extra special thanks for Kirimi-1999 for your review and replies! If it weren't for Kirimi, I would have regrets for posting this chapter, and the chapter might have come late. So thank you! :D

And thank you everyone who read the story, favorited it, put it on alert, or reviewed. I felt like I had a heart attack when I saw how many people read it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

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**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 2:

According To Plan

When Reborn saw Tsuna dodge the bullet, he had a single thought on his mind: Tsuna had a lot of explaining to do. He wasn't even sure if this was Sawada Tsunayoshi; maybe the real Tsuna was kidnapped? This could be a spy that was sent to make sure that no one was suspicious of the real Tsuna's absence. Instead of thinking too much about it, Reborn decided to capture the brunet.

Of course he let the brunet run away. He would spend his day observing the teen and researching for any information that he missed on Tsuna.

However, he was mildly surprised when he lost sight on the brunet after school was over. He just disappeared after the bell rang, just faded into thin air. Surely the teen wouldn't return home after the incident. Maybe he would contact Nana? Then Reborn would be able to find the signal and locate where Tsuna had been.

Tsuna sighed as he placed the receiver back on. He had just called his mother telling her that he would stay over at a 'friend's house'. In reality, Tsuna wasn't even going to a house. It was more like a cabin. The brunet picked up his bag and swiftly made it out of the telephone booth. Reborn could easily pinpoint the signal of the call, and it would lead the infant to his location if he stayed long. Tsuna smiled to himself. He had made sure to use the telephone booth farthest from his house; thus, granting Tsuna more time. Now Reborn would come to understand that Tsuna wasn't an inexperienced useless person that Namimori had come to believe; Reborn would learn that Tsuna shouldn't be underestimated. Besides, Tsuna was getting tired of being looked down on when he could just use his gun to silence the people who underestimated him, forever or not.

As Tsuna walked into the forest near Namimori, he thought about the situation. _I'm so stupid for dodging! If I had only paid attention than I wouldn't be stuck in this mess! Well, at least I didn't humiliate myself by running in only boxers._ Tsuna had been informed about the Dying Will Bullet; he had gathered as much information as he could and ended up laughing after learning the effects. Tsuna had to admit that it was beneficial to use the bullet. You could achieve things deemed impossible with just your dying will. It increased your physical capabilities by a lot; he didn't know exactly by how much. Also, the bullet introduced you to the dying will flames, which Tsuna had a feeling was to become an important weapon in the future. But the bad part was you had to run around in your underwear. He silently wondered why Vongola Primo had made the bullet. Then he decided that the side-effects were just inevitable.

Tsuna slowly neared his private cabin. He felt free and unrestricted here; there was no one to bother him, and he could do anything he wanted. Tsuna stopped in front of nothing but air. However, with a wave of a hand, the cabin showed itself. Indigo flames slowly died away from the cabin although it was only visible to Tsuna's eyes. He opened the wooden door and stepped inside.

Inside the cabin had a place for the bedroom, dining room, bathroom, and workplace. However, the rooms were only identified by a line of duct tape that Tsuna had placed in the beginning of moving his things in. The bedroom was only a bed with a drawer for spare clothes. The dining room had a table with a couple of chairs along with some kitchen supplies. The bathroom was a room of its own. The workplace was the focus of the cabin. The workplace had a laptop on a desk filled with multiple folders containing a mess of papers. The papers were written in a language Tsuna had come up with when he was young, about the age of five. It had proven useful when his mother saw one paper that was about the invitations to other Mafia Families. Luckily Nana had thought the paper was just a bunch of senseless doodles.

Tsuna sat down on the cushioned spinning chair by his desk. He turned on his laptop and accessed his account by his fingerprint. It took a lot of password typing to finally begin his search. He searched for the neighboring towns of Namimori on a place where he could stay. Namimori was no longer safe unless he explained himself to Reborn. Tsuna could just see how that would work out. _Yeah, just tell Reborn that I knew of the Mafia from a very early age and hope that everything will be okay._

When Tsuna felt someone's presence nearby, he reached inside his desk drawer. When the person opened the door, Tsuna pulled out the hidden gun and pointed it at the intruder. Tsuna's narrowed eyes grew wide then back to normal on seeing who it was. He sighed as he put back the weapon.

"Hibari-san, knock before entering, would you? I'm very paranoid right now, and I don't need a heart attack," Tsuna said exasperatedly. Hibari closed the door and leaned against the wall.

"Wao. I've never seen you so irritated before, Herbivore," Hibari replied. Tsuna sighed once again and wondered why he had let Hibari have the freedom to come into this cabin. Oh yeah, that's right...

"Hibari-san, I never gave you permission to come and go as you please in this cabin. Even if you can see through the illusion, that doesn't give you the right to trespass inside," Tsuna said as he typed away at his keyboard. Hibari stared at Tsuna as if what he was going to say next was very obvious.

"Herbivore. The last time I checked, you are underaged to own land property. Thus, it gives me the right to see if you are doing anything disruptive or illegal in Namimori," Hibari said, getting impatient. Tsuna didn't respond as he continued to research about Namimori's surroundings. _Hmm, maybe Kokuyo would be a good place for awhile. I do know some people there._ Hibari decided that he was being too lenient on the brunet since he let Tsuna disrespect him and also let him run in the hallways after school today. So Hibari threw one of his tonfas at Tsuna's head.

Tsuna moved his head to the left to dodge the weapon. He also murmured something about "getting a stronger wall". That was understandable since the wall now had a hole in it.

Hibari was now getting more frustrated at failing to hit the brunet. So he charged at Tsuna with one tonfa in hand. Just as the tonfa was an inch from hitting Tsuna's head, the mop of brown hair moved away in the blink of an eye. Tsuna grabbed Hibari's wrist tightly while his caramel eyes narrowed again.

"Hibari-san. I told you that I don't need a heart attack. I'm not in the mood for this. Just look. If I was a second too late then you would have destroyed my laptop just like how you destroyed the oven. Now that I think about it, you never replaced the oven," Tsuna said tiredly. Hibari took a step back after Tsuna released his hold. He could tell that the brunet didn't want to fight. If Tsuna had no will to fight then it wouldn't be a fun battle. Hibari scowled as he went to retrieve the tonfa he threw earlier. "Replace the oven already and make sure it has a stove."

Hibari would have attacked Tsuna again after he picked up his weapon, but a folder landed in front of him when he turned to face the brunet. Despite not showing it on his face, Hibari was curious. Who wouldn't be when someone suddenly threw an unknown folder in front of you?

"You know you still owe me a favor, and I know that you don't like owing favors. So if you do this one simple task, you don't have to buy me the oven you broke," Tsuna said. Hibari's eyebrow twitched in irritation.

"Herbivore, the oven you had described that you wanted doesn't exist," Hibari said. Tsuna sighed as he felt his intuition asking him to hurry.

"Well, if I were to get a regular oven with a stove, it wouldn't be paying for the time I had to clean up the mess you left just because you wanted a fight," Tsuna said while massaging his temple. "Anyway, I want you to keep that folder safe for a week. Return it to me next Monday. Not next Sunday or next Tuesday, Monday. And make sure you return it to me privately. Understand?"

Hibari looked disinterested in protecting a folder for an "Herbivore". He would have left the cabin, but Tsuna's voice interrupted him again.

"If you don't do this, you still owe me a favor," Tsuna reminded a bit impatiently. Now his intuition was giving him a headache.

Hibari stopped turning towards the door as he thought over the aspects of the deal. Then he picked up the folder and slid it in his jacket. Tsuna smiled in relief; that folder would be safe from Reborn for a week. During that time, Tsuna would be able to think of another place to hide it.

Then Tsuna's smile turned into a smirk. "Hibari-san, make sure that no one else sees that folder or the contents inside," Tsuna said in a sing-song voice. He liked to see Hibari annoyed and irritated while the prefect could not do anything about it. It was some kind of stress reliever for Tsuna, but was it worth the risk of getting attacked?

Hibari looked at Tsuna in the eyes with a murderous aura surrounding him. Hibari did not like to be manipulated. He did not like to be controlled. So with the addition of another rule, Hibari's scowl deepened. He would have attacked Tsuna after he brought out his weapons, but the voice of a child stopped him.

"Well Tsuna. You have a lot of explaining to do especially with the mist flames outside." Tsuna heard a 'click' coming from a gun. He sighed as he rubbed his temples. _I'm sighing so much today. But it looks like my intuition was right when it said that Reborn was coming soon. This couldn't be helped._ Tsuna turned around on his swivel chair and looked at Reborn with a calm but tired expression. The green gun along with the infant's serious eyes was a bit intimidating for Tsuna, but he experienced worse things. He could only imagine his reaction if Reborn was in adult form.

"I must congratulate you for finding me so quickly. I thought I had at least another hour or so before you'd find this place. But this should be expected, you are the number one hitman in the world after all," Tsuna said with an indifferent expression. _Well, I thought I had an hour before my headache appeared. _When he saw that the infant remained silent, he continued. "But you should have expected this from me. Do you honestly think that I would live my life safely when I am one of the blood descendants of Vongola Primo? Plus, my father is the head of CEDEF. It's foolish to think that I wouldn't be targeted. Sooner or later someone would find out and someone did. Dodging bullets is simply a habit I had acquired in order to survive."

Reborn's expression didn't change. The gun didn't even drop one millimeter either. Slowly Tsuna became frightened although he wouldn't show it on his face. "What about him?"

Tsuna was momentarily confused before Hibari walked in front of him to see Reborn. "Hibari Kyoya. He's the head of the Disciplinary Committee and practically rules Namimori. Everyone respects him whether it be from fear or not. Although I can never imagine someone not being afraid of him," Tsuna supplied. This was just common knowledge in Namimori, and he knew that Reborn was looking for a different answer so he continued. "As for my connection with him, he saw that I wasn't like the other 'Herbivores' at school, as Hibari would put it, when he saw me fight against assassins. Since then, he wanted fights from me."

Tsuna knew that Hibari was becoming interested in Reborn since the head prefect raised his tonfas. Tsuna could only sigh as he turned around on his swivel chair. He shut down his laptop while listening to the sound of metal against metal. More footsteps and even a gunshot happened behind Tsuna's back; the brunet did not want to see his cabin being destroyed.

"Wao. You're amazing," Hibari commented. Hibari stepped away from Reborn, and the infant looked at the prefect in acknowledgement. Tsuna could only feel scared; Hibari was acknowledged by Reborn. Whatever was going to happen in the following months, Tsuna was sure that Reborn would use Hibari's strength to torture Tsuna.

"Reborn, could you not shoot in here? I don't want to waste anymore money on this cabin just to fix the bullet holes," Tsuna said. Reborn looked at the brunet, carefully studying him. After awhile, Reborn spoke.

"I can do whatever I want. You also have a gun in your drawer too," Reborn replied. Tsuna paled a little on the infant finding out.

"How did you know that?" Tsuna asked. Reborn smirked at this question.

"I didn't. But your answer confirmed it," the infant said childishly. Tsuna sighed for the hundredth time that day. At least he managed to clear Reborn of any suspicions that would have ended his life. "When we get back, you will have to explain to me the details. And don't try to run away."

Tsuna stared at Reborn for a bit before shaking his head and getting his bag. _Looks like plan number one failed. _Hibari left the cabin, not before Tsuna said, "See you later."

Hibari didn't reply and didn't look back either. Tsuna put the bag's strap over his shoulder, and Reborn landed on the brunet's hair. "You have a lot to work on before you think you can perform a successful escape."

"I know," Tsuna said. _But did it ever occur to you that I purposely let myself get caught? Although the research I just did might not be useful right now, I will definitely use it in the future._ With that, they left the cabin and headed home.

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A/N: I felt that the first chapter might have given some people expectations that won't be fulfilled. So to clear up any misunderstandings, I want to compare this story to two other stories. The stories are "The Mafia Wants You!" by SwordsMagician and "Akutama no Hitman Reborn" by Mockingjay Rose. I have a feeling when reading the reviews that some people might expect the story to become something like AnHR with a (really really) darkTsuna running away after his secret had been found out. However, Secrets Of A Mafia Boss will be more like TMWY! in the Daily Life Arc of my story. However, that does not mean that there won't be some kind of plot later. These past two chapters and a lot more chapters ahead will be the Daily Life Arc, or the introduction. It will become obvious when the Daily Life Arc has ended.

"Akutama no Hitman Reborn" and "The Mafia Wants You!" are both excellent stories. I recommend that you read both of them if you haven't. :D

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Anonymous Review Corner:

culdoran: I didn't notice that my story somewhat resembled TMWY! before your review. It was unintentional but maybe great minds think alike :D And thank you for your review! The A/N would have become more confusing if you hadn't compared my story to TMWY!


	3. Chapter 3 The Truth?

A/N: Thank you Lexie-chan94, edus, Yoshikuni Itoe, Mutsumi Ayano, Yuu3, R3iga1004, Anonymous, OrangeSkye2772, .Xx, Mockingjay Rose, Too lazy to login sorry(Kana), Miyanoai, ezcap1st, BrokenBlackCat, and Kirimi-1999 for your reviews! I somehow managed to get 30 reviews already and these people, plus the ones from last chapter, helped my story to get this far! So thank you!

Also thank you everyone who read the story, favorited it, put it on alert, or reviewed! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

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**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 3:

The Truth?

"Tsu-kun, I thought you were staying over at a friend's house?" Nana asked as she saw her son enter the building. Tsuna smiled a little at his mother.

"Yeah but something came up, and I had to leave," Tsuna said convincingly without hesitation as he took off his shoes. His mother accepted it and went off to make dinner. Tsuna's smile grew a little under his bangs; this was a nice advantage of having an oblivious and naive mother. Tsuna could do so much without any interference or bothersome speculation.

When they entered Tsuna's room, the first thing the brunet did was to drop his school bag on the floor. It made a loud "thud" sound at the impact. Reborn minutely raised an eyebrow; what was in there?

Tsuna smiled a little at seeing the hitman's interest. "Today I was so paranoid when my intuition was going haywire. I brought this along," Tsuna said as he lifted the flap off his school bag. He pulled out a suitcase and inside was a couple of guns along with extra bullets.

"But you made a mistake. If I or someone else were to attack you, than you wouldn't have enough time to open this case and take out the gun," Reborn reprimanded. Tsuna's smile turned into a smirk.

"I know that. These are the extra or spare guns I have. I already have a gun on me right now," Tsuna said. Reborn nodded his head in understanding.

"When were you aware of the Mafia?" Reborn asked suddenly and seriously. It sounded a lot like a statement than a question. _So, onto business already? Is he that suspicious of me?_ Tsuna thought as he tried to suppress his smirk.

"When I was seven. I experienced my first assassination attempt on my life, and the guy told me everything about my father's work. He was strange actually; he told me a lot about the Vongola, even saying that he would be the one to become the Decimo. At that time I didn't understand, but now I think he knew about me being a candidate to the position as Boss," Tsuna said. Reborn watched silently, looking straight into Tsuna's eyes. The brunet could understand the reason; Reborn was just trying to see if what he said was the truth. However, Reborn wouldn't get much out of his eyes. He made sure that no person with the ability to read minds would be able to read his.

"I see. Do you know his name or how he looked like?" Reborn asked. Tsuna shook his head after trying to remember.

"Not his name, but I do recall that he was very violent and loud. Also, he used guns. I'm not sure what bullet he used, but it was very powerful and explosive. Unlike anything that I've ever seen before," Tsuna replied. It was too hard to forget the weapon. It was his first experience ever feeling how close he was to death. The gun pointed right at his forehead when he was seven; that memory was still freshly imprinted in his mind, yet he couldn't remember exactly what the guy looked like.

After observing Tsuna's face for awhile, Reborn said, "How much do you know about the Mafia?" Tsuna seemed to snap out of his thinking and saw that Reborn was waiting for his answer.

The brunet seemed to contemplate over the question. Then a tiny smirk came across his face. "More than my father believes me to know." Silence came right over. Reborn's face was shadowed by his fedora.

"Then I'll test you later. It would be pointless to teach you something that you already know," Reborn said. Tsuna nodded his head. "Now about the mist flames-"

"Before you say anything, yes it was me who put up the illusion. I know that it's barely satisfactory, but you'd be surprised by how many Mafiosi don't notice it. Besides, Mist isn't my main attribute," Tsuna cut in. He watched Reborn's expression turn into one of amusement.

"I wasn't going to ask that, but thank you for the extra information. I'll be sure to train you in making illusions," Reborn said childishly. Tsuna groaned inwardly in annoyance. "Who taught you how to use flames?"

"Well an ally taught me how to use the Mist flames while I learned the rest and how to fight," Tsuna said. "I'm sure that you'll meet him sooner or later. He pops up in my house from time to time."

"Is this an invitation to stay?" Reborn asked innocently yet there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. Tsuna realized his mistake but shook his head. The damage was already done, and Reborn was already planning to stay in the first place. "One more question. Why are you cooperating to tell me these things?"

"I had a choice?" Tsuna asked incredulously. Reborn seemed unfazed by the brunet's naivety.

"Well no. I was going to threaten you with my gun if you didn't. But why didn't you protest even a little?" Reborn asked. Tsuna didn't seem to need that much time to think over the question.

"There's no point in hiding something you already found out about. If I ever wanted to come back home, I needed to explain to you. Besides, even if you didn't find out, I would still have some trouble. I would try to hide the information, but I would have to go to great lengths to achieve such a thing. Since the problem was solved, I have more freedom and more time to pay attention to my _interests_," Tsuna explained. Reborn raised an eyebrow at the brunet. What sort of 'interests' would Tsuna have? Tsuna smiled mischievously. As if Tsuna was the one reading minds, he said, "You just have to find out yourself. If you can that is."

Reborn stared at Tsuna's eyes to try to find out the brunet's plan. So far he found nothing; he had to hand it to Tsuna for being able to prevent him from reading the brunet's mind. But there was something else in those eyes of Tsuna's. If he paid close enough attention, there was a different color than the normal caramel pigment. There was a touch of orange added to his eye color. When was that there?

Tsuna stood up from his sitting position on the floor. He walked over to the door and said to Reborn, "If that's all then I'm leaving. I won't be returning home until around nine o' clock." Tsuna then left the room, leaving a very suspicious Reborn.

The brunet walked down the stairs and towards the door while whistling a nonsensical tune. Nana popped her head out of the kitchen and asked, "Tsu-kun, where are you going? It's almost dinner."

While putting on his shoes, Tsuna replied, "I'm going to meet up with some friends of mine. It's a different friend than the one earlier." Nana nodded her head and watched her son leave the house again. A small frown came onto her lips. She was happy that Tsuna was becoming more like his father, but she wanted her son to depend on her more. Nana knew that Tsuna was becoming more independent, too independent, and was probably carrying all sorts of worries on his shoulders. She wanted to help her son but knew that it might be too late for her to intervene.

While walking to the left of his house, Tsuna pulled out his cell phone. He dialed in a number and placed it by his ear while creating an illusion over himself so the conversation would stay private.

"Hello?" came the voice on the other line. Tsuna smiled at hearing the voice so quickly.

Then Tsuna said, "It's been awhile Shoichi-kun." Silence rained down for a couple of seconds before Shoichi spoke.

"Hold on for a moment." Tsuna waited patiently as he heard the redhead ask his mother for privacy. Half a minute passed then Shoichi spoke again. "Sorry for the delay. What is it that you called me for? You usually text me instead of talking on the phone."

"Do you not want me to talk to you on the phone anymore?" Tsuna asked, faking a hurt tone.

"N-no, that's not what I meant. I mean, it's rare of you to call so I was wondering what the issue is. It has to be important, right?" Shoichi said nervously.

"Well, I wanted to come and visit your house tonight. There's something I want to discuss there, and there'll be other people coming along. I'll take care of the invitations; you should prepare dinner enough for me and at least four other people. I'll see you in a little bit. Bye!" Tsuna said. He ended the conversation with the press of a button and decided to inform the other guests.

_Rokudo Mukuro, Dokuro Chrome, Joshima Ken, and Kakimoto Chikusa, you are to report to Irie Shoichi's house for a mandatory meeting today. No one is to be excused._

_-Natsu_

Tsuna sent the message to the Kokuyo Gang. He smiled as he put away his phone. It was a sickeningly sweet smile that seemed mismatched with his face.

"Just you wait Arcobaleno. Just you wait. I'm going to show you the full extent of my strength. Never again will I be manipulated; never again will I be taken advantage of."

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is short; it's the shortest chapter so far. But I also want you readers to know that Tsuna didn't really reveal too much about himself in this chapter. He has a deeper secret. I hope that by next chapter, the summary I wrote is going to start fitting in with this story. The summary will start making sense later on too.

Also, I want to make this clear. There won't be any pairings, well maybe Tsuna and Kyoko but that's really minimal. Besides, as stated before, Tsuna considers Kyoko as a good friend and has a slight crush but that is all. I'm not really great at writing romance, so sorry.


	4. Chapter 4 Meeting With Friends

A/N: Thank you Lexie-chan94, Yoshikuni Itoe, Kirimi-1999, BrokenBlackCat, xxxWhite-Wing13xxx, Bird of Dreams, and JackFrost14 for your reviews! I'm sorry if I hadn't replied to all of your reviews, but I will answer some of your questions in the bottom author note.

Also, thank you for those who read the story, favorited it, or put it on alert. I'm surprised at how many people continue to favorite or put the story on alert. Thanks for your support!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 4:

Meeting With "Friends"

"Shoichi-kun. I'm glad you took my call seriously. Now the meeting can start," Tsuna said. Shoichi nodded his head and looked nervously at all the guests. Tsuna had just arrived a few minutes ago and everyone was gathered.

In the time when Tsuna didn't arrive yet, Ken had started eating quickly and messily like a pig. Chikusa ate at a regular pace and had scolded Ken. Chrome didn't eat anything but took a drink of tea while Mukuro had only eaten a bowl of rice. Shoichi had been standing by the side from being frozen in fear. He didn't move even a muscle.

"Kufufu. Tsunayoshi, this had better be something important. I wouldn't be coming here if it wasn't for the 'mandatory' part of the message," Mukuro said from his seat. Tsuna smiled malevolently, causing Shoichi's spine to shiver.

"I told you to call me Natsu whenever I'm like this," Tsuna-no- Natsu reprimanded. Mukuro chuckled amusedly at this and stared at the caramel eyes with a tinge of orange in hopes of provoking fear.

"I can never tell when you have changed, _Tsunayoshi_," Mukuro said tauntingly. Natsu's smile changed into one that promised great pain.

"Chrome, what was the name for the signature on the message I sent to _Mukuro's_ phone?" Natsu said a bit impatiently. Chrome wasn't offended by the tone of voice since she knew whom it really was directed at.

"Natsu, Boss," Chrome said. Natsu nodded his head in thanks.

"So Mukuro. Explain," Natsu said. Mukuro chuckled in amusement.

"I can say whatever I want, Tsu-" Mukuro was cut off as he dodged an incoming bullet. If he were a quarter of a second late than a hole would be in his head.

Footsteps grew louder, and soon the door to the kitchen was wide open. "Is everyone okay? I heard a gunshot."

"Everything is alright, Shoichi-kun's kaa-san. It's most probably the neighbor's car engine. Something must have happened to it. And don't worry about Mukuro. He fell off his chair due to the sound," Natsu said convincingly with no trace of a gun anywhere. When Shoichi's mother looked at Mukuro to see if he was all right, the illusionist smiled politely in reassurance. However, when she wasn't looking, Mukuro glared daggers at the brunet. Natsu just smiled back as if nothing had happened.

"Okay then. If anything happens, call me over," Shoichi's mother said as she left the room. Immediately after she left, Mukuro stood up and brought out his trident.

"Chrome," Natsu began. "Please make an illusion around this entire room. Make sure Shoichi-kun's family won't hear anything, and if they enter the room, make them see us sitting peacefully at the table." Chrome nodded her head and took out her own trident to cast the illusion.

"Kufufu. You'll pay now," Mukuro said. But before he managed to attack, Natsu spoke.

"Mukuro, you know I have connections with the Vindice. I can send you back to Vendicare if you anger me so much," Natsu threatened. Ken and Chikusa went to stand protectively in front of Mukuro. Chrome shook her head and watched the act; she knew what was going to happen so she didn't bother to move.

"You wouldn't dare!" Ken hissed. Natsu ignored the two as he focused solely on the illusionist. Tension was between them and you could see the electricity... until Mukuro laughed.

"I won't attack you now. But we'll have a time later. Now explain what this meeting is about," Mukuro demanded. Shoichi sighed in relief at seeing that his house was no longer a battlefield. Now he just had to cover up the new bullet hole in his kitchen.

"Alright, everyone sit down," Natsu said. Everyone went to sit at the table where food was still there. However, it was going to be ignored as the meeting started. "Shoichi-kun knows about a part of what I'm going to say."

All eyes turned to the redhead as he had a feeling that a stomachache was coming.

"Earlier in the day, I learned that I am the other candidate to become Vongola Decimo. Reborn had come over to teach me to become the boss, but he found out that I already had knowledge on the Mafia due to a little slip up. But now a brief explanation was made and everything is fine," Natsu said.

"Then that makes you my target," Mukuro said. A smirk came across his face, but Natsu ignored it in favor of mouthing the words 'Vendicare' to Mukuro. Now a frown came across the illusionist's face.

"Moving on. I am sure that I had told you some information regarding the tri-ni-sette. If I am to become the Vongola Boss, than that means there will be a new generation of the tri-ni-sette. And it seems like the three Sky components are gathering," Natsu said. Shoichi seemed to be the least confused of the people there. He was, after all, Natsu's main informant.

"The other two wielders of the Sky tri-ni-sette are Uni-san and Byakuran-san," Shoichi explained. "Uni-san is from the Giglio Nero Famiglia, and Byakuran-san is from the Gesso Famiglia. The Giglio Nero and the Gesso made an alliance and formed the Millefiore Famiglia, which consisted of both Families."

"Yes," Natsu said. "Uni is also the Sky Arcobaleno, and Byakuran is the rightful owner of the Sky Mare Ring. With how this concerns me, Byakuran gave me an invitation to join his Family. If I had accepted, than the Sky tri-ni-sette would gather, and I'm sure Byakuran had wanted this to happen."

"Byakuran? Why don't you suspect Uni?" Mukuro asked. Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement; they had wondered that as well.

"There were some rumors going around that Uni did not join willingly. Some say that she was threatened. Others disagreed and said that they had some sort of a bet where Uni lost. I don't know the exact reason, but I do know that Byakuran is cunning. I sense that he has some sort of plan, and Uni is by all means innocent," Natsu explained.

"Does Boss want us to investigate Byakuran?" Chrome asked. Natsu nodded his head; Chrome would always find out the favors underneath his words.

"Is that all there is to this meeting?" Chikusa asked.

"Just one more thing. Mukuro, can you spy on the Varia, especially Xanxus? I know you possessed someone working in the Varia's mansion so don't complain. And Shoichi-kun, can you research any information about the Vongola's current condition?" Natsu asked.

"May I ask why?" Shoichi said.

"It's strange that Nono would send Reborn over so suddenly. There must have been something going on, and I have a feeling that it has something to do with Xanxus' reappearance after so many years," Natsu explained. Shoichi nodded his head in understanding and to accept the task.

"Is that it~byon? Can we go back to eating?" Ken asked. Natsu nodded his head and Chikusa sighed.

"Chrome, you can release the illusion now," Natsu informed. The amethyst-eyed girl nodded her head and did as she was told. _If only Mukuro was easier to order around than I would get things done much faster._

"So you're not staying?" Shoichi asked as Natsu stood up from his seat. He shook his head and headed towards the door.

"I'm afraid not, but I'm so glad you appreciate me coming here. Maybe I'll come again to eat your mother's cooking when I have free time," Natsu said. Shoichi paled slightly; the red-haired teen knew that when Natsu was around in his house, the Kokuyo Gang wasn't too far behind. Shoichi was still nervous around Ken and Mukuro, and it was a miracle that he didn't have any stomachaches this time. "I'll make sure your wall won't have any bullet-holes by tomorrow."

* * *

The meeting had ended at eight fifty-four, leaving Natsu six minutes until the time he told Reborn that he'd be back. It had been six months since Natsu had made his last appearance. Last time had been for fun, but now it was for an important reason. There were still a lot of things that he hadn't told his group yet. However, he knew that what he had told them now was just the beginning of the news. Sooner or later he would have to tell them everything.

He smiled a little as he opened the door to his house. It was exactly nine o' clock. His nose was assaulted by the different smells of his mother's cooking. He was lucky that his mother made the meals; she was better than most professionals.

When he entered the kitchen, Nana had been washing the dishes except for one. That one plate was on the dining table with that night's dinner. "Tsu-kun, you're back! Did you have a nice time?"

"Yeah. It was a little eventful with five other people there," Natsu said. His mother smiled in happiness for her son.

"Do you want dinner?" Nana asked.

"Maybe later. I'm not hungry right now for some reason," Natsu replied. Nana smiled in understanding; Natsu knew that his mother caught on a little bit about his behavior but wouldn't ask to confirm it.

He walked up the stairs to his room where he knew Reborn was. When Natsu opened the door, a kick was aimed at his face, but the brunet dodged.

"It seems like you really did come back at nine," Reborn said.

"Did you doubt me?" Natsu said with a fake hurt tone.

"It doesn't matter. Whose house did you visit?" Reborn asked. Natsu picked up his school bag and sat down at his desk.

"A friend's," the brunet replied. Natsu brought some books out and started doing his homework. Reborn frowned upon the answer but didn't ask any further questions. He hopped onto the desk and observed the brunet. So far all the questions for math the brunet answered was correct. Natsu didn't need a calculator for the problems where most students his age would use one. Reborn wondered how much information he had on Tsuna was incorrect. According to the information, Tsuna was below average in physical education and for his grade, it consisted of an average of 17.5.

According to the information, Tsuna shouldn't solve a problem like 24.3 divided by 76.1 in his head and actually answer it correctly. But then again, ever since he saw Tsuna dodge the bullet, he knew that most of the information he received on the brunet was false.

In a couple of seconds later, Natsu was done with his math homework. Luckily that was the only homework that day assigned. The only teacher who just had to assign homework was Nezu-sensei. Natsu was sure that the teacher never graduated from a top university; there was just no way if someone that talented only got work in Namimori. If the teacher kept complaining about the students and sometimes the school, then he should go to a better place to teach. If what Nezu-sensei said was correct, then he had the abilities to teach at a better school. Natsu smirked inwardly; someday if he got the chance, he would search up Nezu-sensei's information and find out enough proof to get him fired.

Natsu stretched in his chair and let out a soft yawn. The time was 9:10 PM, and he had an exhausting day.

"Where are you going to sleep? In the guest room?" Natsu asked as he went to retrieve his pajamas.

"No, here," Reborn said somewhere above the brunet. Natsu looked up and saw that Reborn had put up a hammock. Apparently Reborn was also ready to fall asleep. Looks like he wasn't the only one who had a tiring day.

Natsu changed into his pajamas and so did Reborn; right now he was so tired that he didn't care if the infant was sleeping in his room. He was only going to care if the infant was a loud snorer, and he doubt Reborn was. After all, how would the number one hitman in the world survive if he made his location known at night?

Natsu turned off the lights and climbed into his bed. His face relaxed and soon his chest was rising up and down gently.

Reborn sat up in his hammock and looked down at the brunet when he knew that Tsuna was asleep. A small frown made its way on his face; Sawada Tsunayoshi was hiding much more than Reborn originally thought. Tsuna was definitely planning something.

* * *

When Tsuna woke up the next morning, he felt unusually exhausted and had an immense headache. There were plenty of times when he felt this tired like six months ago. Both times he didn't recall ever falling asleep but managed to wake up on his bed.

Strange, he never had a headache before when that happened so why now? Tsuna looked to his right and saw the reason for the headache. He saw Reborn holding a green mallet.

"Reborn. Why did you hit me with that?" Tsuna asked calmly.

"Because you didn't wake up from your mother's call. Surprisingly you are a heavy sleeper. I had thought that you would be a light sleeper since assassination attempts and kidnappings can happen at night," Reborn said. Tsuna groaned inwardly at the infant's idea of a wake-up call.

"I'm usually a light sleeper. Maybe because too many things happened yesterday that I just wanted to sleep," Tsuna answered as he pulled his blanket over his head. Right now he just wanted to go back to sleep. The last time he was this tired, he managed to stay at home from school by convincing his mother that he was sick. However, Reborn won't be easily tricked.

"Itte!" Tsuna yelped as he shot up on his bed. He grabbed his side and rubbed it as he glared at Reborn. "Reborn, why do you have a taser?"

Reborn smirked at Tsuna's reaction. "I have too many weapons that I want to test. You're just giving me reasons to use them." Tsuna shook his head in dismay; he was being treated as a guinea pig, and he had no say in it.

Tsuna sighed as he grumpily went to take a shower. He only had thirty minutes until school started so a leisure walk won't be possible.

When Tsuna was gone, Reborn frowned. _The orange in his eyes is gone, but I'm sure I saw it yesterday._ Reborn dismissed the thoughts as he went down the stairs for breakfast. There's no point in thinking about it now; sooner or later more information will be revealed.

Ten minutes later, Tsuna headed down to the kitchen for breakfast while carrying his school bag. His stomach grumbled along the way. _It looks like I didn't eat dinner last night._ When Tsuna sat down on his chair, Nana placed a plate of last night's dinner in front of him.

"Tsu-kun, you went to sleep without dinner. Did you at least eat at your friend's house?" Nana asked. Tsuna looked confusedly at his mother. _Didn't I tell her that I had to leave early?_

"Kaa-san, what are you talking about?" Tsuna asked after trying to remember. His mother looked at him strangely before she brushed it off.

"You went to a friend's house just before dinner started. You said that five other people were there," Nana said as she turned around to pour herself a cup of tea. Tsuna looked questioningly at her before brushing it off. _This happened before with kaa-san saying strange things. I wonder if she's okay._

Reborn watched Tsuna as the brunet started to eat; maybe this was relating to the unusual orange in his eyes?

Seven minutes later Tsuna was done eating. He stood up from his seat and walked to the medicine cabinet. He searched around for anything that would help with his headache. _Now I have to get through the school day while dealing with sleepiness __**and**__ a headache. Thank you Reborn for making my life miserable._ Tsuna swallowed the pill while drinking a glass of water. He placed the cup in the sink and sighed in distress. He picked up his school bag by his chair and went to put on his shoes.

"I'm off," Tsuna mumbled as he walked outside the house. Nana went to the door and smiled.

"Have a nice day, Tsu-kun!" Nana called while waving her hand goodbye. _There's no way that's possible with Reborn around._ Tsuna thought bitterly.

* * *

A/N: Now to answer some of the questions in the reviews. I plan to have SOAMB (short for Secrets Of A Mafia Boss) to follow some parts of the manga. Everything in SOAMB is not going to be canon (i.e. Chrome's appearance) so there will be some changes here and there. However, starting from next chapter until I decide, the story is going to be following the chapters in the manga/episodes in the anime. So be prepared to see changes I think are necessary to fit in with my plot.


	5. Chapter 5 When The Storm Approaches

A/N: Thank you Lexie-chan94, Kirimi-1999, Yuu3, Yoshikuni Itoe, and BrokenBlackCat for your reviews!

Extra special thanks to Yuu3 and there's a lot of reasons for this! She was the first and currently only person to have written a review for my other fanfic that's a one-shot "Insecurity". I love that I see that lots of people have read the fanfic and there are those who put it on their favorite list, but I love even more for the review.

And before I forget, thank you to those who read the story, put it on alert, or put it on their favorite list.

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 5:

When The Storm Approaches

"Tsuna-kun, are you alright?" Kyoko asked worriedly. Tsuna groaned in reply while not bothering to lift his head from his arms. Usually he would at least say, "I'm fine" to reassure her, but right now he wanted to sleep. Every sound he heard was a slice in his brain; he couldn't wait until class started so the dull droning of the teacher's monotonous voice would lull him to sleep.

"Leave him be Kyoko. If he doesn't want to speak than don't force him to," Hana said as she placed a hand on her shoulder. Kyoko looked up at her best friend and then down at Tsuna. Maybe Tsuna just didn't get a good night's sleep?

"Okay, Hana. Sorry Tsuna-kun. I hope you'll get better," Kyoko said. She retreated back to her seat with a frown of worry on her face.

"Thank you Kurokawa-san," Tsuna mumbled into his arms. Hana heard it and gave one final look at Tsuna before walking to Kyoko.

"Anytime," Hana replied. Tsuna tried to block out all of the sound, but it seemed like the conversations the students were making were becoming louder by the second. He sighed as he tried to dig his head deeper into his arms.

The bell rang, which signified the start of the school day and dictated which student Hibari would bite to death. Tsuna groaned inwardly at the sound piercing in his brain. _Curse you Reborn._

A moment later, the teacher stepped into the classroom. He cleared his throat to gather the class' attention. "Everyone sit down. I have news for all of you. We have a new transfer student who was studying overseas in Italy."

The door slid open and someone with silver hair and a scowl came in. Tsuna did not raise his head to look at the new student and cringed when he heard the fangirls of the class squeal.

"Gokudera Hayato, from Italy," the silverette introduced himself. Tsuna was sure he heard that name before, but his mind was working slowly. He felt someone glaring at him but ignored it. If he managed to annoy the new student by not paying attention to him, then the damage was already done. No use getting worked up about another person hating him out of the thousands that already do.

Tsuna heard the transfer student's footsteps heading towards him. "Gokudera-kun your seat is over... Gokudera-kun?"

Gokudera kicked Tsuna's desk, but the brunet had removed his head and arms from it just in time. His intuition had been warning him for a few seconds and thankfully he listened to it. Gokudera scowled at the brunet and walked over to his seat. Tsuna turned his head around and glared at Gokudera. The students behind him, who saw how powerful it was, shivered in fear even though the glare wasn't directed at them.

The class was silent for a moment before the teacher decided to start the lesson. Tsuna laid his head in his arms again and tried to sleep. _Smokin' Bomb Hayato from the Mafia. It's Reborn again. I should have known that I wouldn't get a good sleep ever with that infant here. _Tsuna sighed inwardly. There was not way he could get back the little peace he had before now that Reborn was here.

* * *

The bell rang for the start of lunch, and Tsuna was sleeping through everything. Kyoko walked up to Tsuna and poked his shoulder to wake him up. Tsuna stirred slightly from the touch, and a few seconds later, he was sitting up while rubbing his eyes. A soft yawn escaped his lips as he groggily turned his head to look at Kyoko.

"What is it?" Tsuna asked as he yawned again. Kyoko giggled and waited until Tsuna was looking at her again.

"It's lunch time. Did you bring anything to eat?" Kyoko asked. Tsuna dug into his pockets and took out five hundred yen.

"I was going to buy something from the store," Tsuna replied. Kyoko raised an eyebrow.

"Was?" she asked curiously.

"I want to go back to sleep," Tsuna answered. He was going to place his head down again if it wasn't for Hana lightly flicking his forehead.

"Go and get something to eat. You can't be sleeping all day," Hana said sternly. Then a smirk came across her face as she leaned in to whisper in Tsuna's ear. "Can't you see that Kyoko is worried about you."

Tsuna didn't respond, and it looked like he didn't hear her. But Hana knew that Tsuna heard her and was probably thinking about it; Hana knew that Tsuna had a crush on Kyoko, even if it was only a little, and she wanted to see a reaction from him. However she was wrong since Tsuna's mind was working slowly, and the words went in one ear and out the other.

When Hana saw that Tsuna didn't show any signs of registering what she said, she sighed. "Just eat something. Even a piece of bread will be fine."

Tsuna saw that he couldn't convince them that he didn't need lunch so he nodded his head. Hana smiled, and Kyoko looked relieved. Tsuna stood up from his seat and excused himself.

When Tsuna was walking down the halls to the school's store, he felt his headache return. He massaged his temple in an attempt to relieve some of the pain. However, try as he might, it did not work as well as he hoped.

Tsuna decided to use a shortcut by exiting one of the doors and around to the entrance of the school. That way he didn't need to turn countless corners.

However, what greeted his sight after he walked a couple of meters outside was the new transfer student. Tsuna groaned inwardly for the hundredth time that day. _Reborn definitely has something to do with this._

"You're pathetic. If someone like you becomes the Decimo, the Vongola Family is finished," Gokudera scolded. Tsuna shook his head, as he knew that a fight was going to come.

"If Hibari-san catches you smoking, you're going to be in a lot of trouble," Tsuna said. Gokudera glared at Tsuna, and the brunet shrugged. "Just trying to help."

"If you want to help then disappear! I am the one who's fit to be Vongola Decimo!" Gokudera declared as he threw two sticks of dynamite, which he lit by his cigarette. Tsuna lazily watched as the dynamite came closer to him. Then when it was a meter away, he brought out his gun and shot the tips of each stick to extinguish them. He took a step to the left to avoid the bodies of the dynamite hitting him.

"Ciaossu. You managed to live Dame-Tsuna," Reborn greeted. Tsuna stared at Reborn before shaking his head.

"You even found out my nickname?" Tsuna asked incredulously. Reborn smirked, and then turned his attention to Gokudera.

"You came earlier than I expected, Gokudera Hayato," Reborn said.

"So you're Kyuudaime's highly trusted assassin, Reborn," Gokudera said. "You're not kidding about me becoming a candidate as the successor if I kill Sawada right?"

"Yeah, that's right. Well, let's continue the killing," Reborn answered. Tsuna looked at Reborn in disbelief. Apparently the infant caught the message in Tsuna's look so he said, "I'm telling you to fight."

Tsuna sighed again and looked back to Gokudera who brought out a mountain of dynamites. "If I win, will you stop bothering me for the rest of the day?" Tsuna asked Reborn. The infant smirked under his fedora.

"Let's see."

Gokudera threw all of the dynamite in his hands and yelled, "Die!"

A huge explosion appeared that would have instantly put Tsuna's life in danger if he didn't move. The brunet seemed to have disappeared when the smoke cleared, but Gokudera saw a tuft of brown hair turning the corner.

Gokudera chased after Tsuna and saw that the brunet was waiting for him at a dead end.

"Doesn't anyone care about the other students' safety?" Tsuna mumbled. He massaged his temple again and sighed. His headache was becoming worse thanks to Gokudera- no he should say Reborn. Reborn was the one who called Gokudera over from Italy.

"This is it," Gokudera said as he threw another pile of dynamites at Tsuna. Tsuna didn't have many options to consider as his next move. He could just dodge easily but that would result in the school's wall being destroyed. He did not want to confront Hibari when it came to Nami-chuu. Tsuna also couldn't use his gun to extinguish the tips like he did before; there were too many dynamites to shoot at. So Tsuna decided to use a different tactic.

He brought out a ring from his pocket and placed it on his right middle finger. Half a second later an orange flame encased the ring.

As the dynamites came closer, Tsuna concentrated on feeding his flames into the special bullets in the gun. These bullets would absorb and store great amount of flames.

When the dynamites were three seconds away from hitting Tsuna, the brunet shot a bullet. The bullet cracked open, and a huge wave of flames burned the sticks of dynamites.

Tsuna didn't use this method in battle often since he had limited amounts of those special bullets. Besides, for it to burn anything the distance to the target has to be short or else the flames will die out.

Gokudera scowled at Tsuna again; Tsuna was making Gokudera more irritated the longer he looked at the brunet. Then he brought out twice the amount of dynamites. "Double Bomb!"

Gokudera threw the dynamites again, and Tsuna used the same technique. The silver-haired was becoming more frustrated so he decided to triple the amount. "Triple Bomb!"

However, before he got to throw them at Tsuna, one of the sticks fell to the ground. Then a domino effect happened with the rest of the dynamites falling to the ground.

"This is the end of me..." Gokudera watched as time slowed down. He saw each stick of dynamite hitting the ground. He watched everything while his death was approaching.

Soon a blur of brown tackled Gokudera down to the ground. Gokudera was stunned and didn't understand what was happening. Then an explosion came from the dynamites, but he was protected by the brown blur.

When the figure that was hovering over Gokudera coughed and sat down on the ground, the silver-haired found out that it was Tsuna who saved him.

Tsuna was coughing from the impact the explosion made. He could tell that his back was going to need a days rest at least. _Just what I needed; back pain to go with my fatigue and headache._

Tsuna rubbed the dust out of his eyes. When he looked at Gokudera, he saw the silver-haired bowing with his head bashing against the ground.

"I was mistaken! You're the one who's fit to be the Boss! Juudaime! I'll follow you! Command me to do anything!" Gokudera exclaimed. Tsuna massaged his temple; Gokudera's loud enthusiastic voice was piercing his brain.

"Having the loser serve under the winner is a Family rule," Reborn explained as he appeared next to the brunet. Tsuna sighed as he watched as Gokudera sat up.

"Actually, I really didn't have ambitions to become the Vongola Decimo. It's just that when I heard that the Decimo is a japanese guy the same age as me, I felt that I had to test his strength," Gokudera confessed. "But you're much more than I expected! For putting yourself on the line to save me, I'll place my life in your hands!"

"And I believe that I can't persuade you to just let us be classmates," Tsuna sighed. He saw the loyalty and determination in Gokudera's eyes. There was no way Tsuna would be able to persuade Gokudera otherwise.

"Gokudera became your subordinate because of your strength. Good job Tsuna," Reborn praised. Tsuna knew that this was going to be one of the rare praises he was going to hear from Reborn.

"Juudaime, is there anything I can do for you?" Gokudera asked. _How about go away? _Tsuna looked at the silver-haired. Just this morning Gokudera hated him, and now the opposite came.

"Can you please buy me something from the school store? Lunch is almost over, and I didn't eat anything," Tsuna requested. Gokudera nodded his head vigorously, and the brunet handed him his five hundred yen.

After Gokudera left, Tsuna laid down on the ground with a hand over his eyes to block out the sun. "Now that I won, are you going to keep your end of the deal and stop bothering me?"

"A deal is a deal," Reborn said. Tsuna smiled for the first time that day, happy that he could at least get some peace. Although he wished that this peace would last for more than a day, he had to be satisfied with what he could get. Especially with what he could bargain with Reborn; the infant was too stubborn in Tsuna's opinion.

* * *

A/N: I've seen this going around the site, and I think most of you probably have seen this. But in case you haven't, please go onto these two websites:

petition/lemons-for-fanfiction/ (I can't seem to go onto this website though)

petitions/fanfiction-net-stop-the-destruction-of-fanfiction-net

In case you didn't know or didn't bother to read the above author note, please go read my one-shot "Insecurity". I would love if more people reviewed so I know what you think about it.


	6. Chapter 6 Try To Court The School's Idol

A/N: Thank you feressaloveyaoi, Yoshikuni Itoe, Lexie-chan94, Yuu3, BrokenBlackCat, and Mockingjay Rose for the reviews/offer for the position!

And thank you to the ones who read the chapter, reviewed, put the story on alert, and put the story on the favorite list! By the way, with just reading the title of the chapter, who do you think is trying to court the school's idol?

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 6:

Try To Court The School's Idol

Tsuna begrudgingly walked to school with Gokudera on his right and Reborn on his head. He had woken up at three in the morning, earlier than his morning strolls. Apparently Reborn wanted to train his endurance by running all over Namimori for an hour straight. If Tsuna stopped to rest, he would be shot at. For the reason why Tsuna had to do it so early, Reborn said that he had to be prepared at any time of the day. The training stopped at four, but Tsuna was too awake to fall back asleep.

"Don't complain. You went to sleep right after school yesterday," Reborn reminded. Tsuna sighed as he looked to his right. Gokudera was happily walking with no scowl on his face. Tsuna had to wonder if the world was playing with him.

When Tsuna reached the school gates, he saw someone standing, perhaps waiting for someone. Upon closer examination, it was Mochida Kensuke, the captain of the Kendo Club.

Tsuna continued to walk, ignoring Mochida since he thought he was waiting for someone else. However, when the Kendo Club captain said, "Dame-Tsuna," he stopped.

Gokudera frowned upon hearing such disrespect being directed at Tsuna. However, Tsuna raised a hand to hold Gokudera back from attacking. Mochida looked at Gokudera suspiciously; Reborn had disappeared some time ago.

"Gokudera-kun, head to class without me. Do not come here to search for me. That is an order," Tsuna said sternly. Gokudera nodded his head and looked at the brunet before glaring at Mochida. Then he turned around and walked into the school.

Tsuna walked slowly over to Mochida while saying, "What is it you want?"

Mochida looked at the brunet in obvious scorn. "Do you like Sasagawa Kyoko?"

Tsuna seemed to be taken aback by the sudden unexpected question but soon recomposed himself. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Mochida apparently took that as a yes and grew to loathe Tsuna even more. "Right after school, meet me in the gym. Don't chicken out of this match," Mochida said snidely before walking away. Tsuna watched the Kendo captain's retreating back until he was out of sight.

Tsuna hung his head and sighed. "Why can't I get a peaceful day out of this week?" He readjusted his hold on his school bag and then headed to class.

In the classroom, Tsuna's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Everyone in the class had their attention on the brunet. The reason? Gokudera was happily greeting Tsuna as if they hadn't seen each other for an entire year.

Some classmates began whispering to each other, which only caused Tsuna's patience to run low.

"What's going on?"

"When did they become friends?"

"No, wait... Tsuna probably became Gokudera's bitch."

Tsuna was ready to kill his classmates. He would have shown them a fate worse than death if it wasn't for Kyoko and Hana.

"Good morning Tsuna-kun! Did you become friends with Gokudera-kun?" Kyoko asked while being oblivious to the murderous aura that surrounded the brunet.

"I'm Juudaime's loyal right hand-man," Gokudera proclaimed. Tsuna stared at Gokudera. _When did he decide that?_

"That's great!" Kyoko cheerily said. Tsuna looked incredulously at Kyoko. Then he looked a bit pleadingly at Hana. She could only return a look that said, 'What do you expect?'

Tsuna sighed and then remembered something. He looked at Hana again and then said, "I have to tell Kurokawa-san something. In private."

The three looked at Tsuna before nodding their heads. Tsuna turned his gaze to Gokudera, and the silver-haired knew that the brunet was specifically telling him that.

Tsuna walked out of the classroom with Hana following behind him. Hana leaned against the wall with arms crossed. She watched the brunet for a second and then spoke, "What do you want to tell me?"

"It's more like informing you. By the end of the day the whole school will probably hear about this. Mochida-senpai declared a match against me a few minutes ago. I think it has something to do with Kyoko-chan," Tsuna said. Hana put a hand on her chin and had a thoughtful look on.

"From what I saw before, it seems like Mochida-senpai has a crush on Kyoko. He probably thinks that you're some sort of obstacle or rival for him since she talks to you more than him," Hana supplied.

Tsuna could only sigh. Hasn't he been doing that a lot now? "Great. I hate misunderstandings. I just want things to be as peaceful as it can be."

"This isn't your week, I guess," Hana sympathized. Tsuna nodded. _After school, I will end things quickly. It's going to be his fault if I break any of his bones._

* * *

The second the bell rang, the majority of the students approached Tsuna's desk. Tsuna looked annoyed at this turn of events. "What do you want?" the brunet asked in irritation.

"Captain Mochida is waiting for you in the dojo," one of them said, and Tsuna realized that the ones closest to him were in the Kendo Club.

"Off to the dojo," they chorused while pulling Tsuna out of his seat. While they were pulling him, Gokudera was trying to get to Tsuna.

Gokudera didn't threaten anyone with his dynamites since Tsuna had specifically told him not to bring out his dynamites unless in a real emergency where his life was in danger in accordance to Tsuna's definition of danger. Gokudera tried to plow through the crowd, but it was futile.

Tsuna was pulled forcibly all the way to the gym. Along the way, Tsuna kept on mumbling, "I will have my way soon." Apparently he was near exploding in rage since multiple veins were popping out.

In the gym, Mochida was waiting with a smirk on his face. _I'm going to win no matter what. The match is already rigged in my favor, and the person I'm fighting against is Dame-Tsuna._

The doors were slammed open and a huge crowd came in. At the front was Tsuna being pulled by two members of the Kendo Club. Tsuna looked around the room and saw Mochida smirking as if victory was guaranteed. Then he saw who the referee was and immediately knew that the match was unfair. The referee was someone in the Kendo Club.

Tsuna looked behind him and saw four people struggling to bring over armor for him; he could only shake his head in their worthless attempts. He wasn't going to wear that armor no matter what. Then he saw two people bringing over the shinai; they were also struggling. Tsuna sighed at the unbelievable tactics just to win this match.

"This is an easy duel that even an idiot like you can understand," Mochida said while Tsuna's eyebrow twitched. "Since you're a novice at Kendo, if you can get an ippon off of me, then you win. If you can't, then I win! The prize is of course, Sasagawa Kyoko!"

"Pri-prize?" Kyoko repeated in a bit of anger and disbelief. Tsuna seemed to become more irritated at this. He grabbed the shinai with one hand easily. Mochida seemed to frown a bit, and the members who brought it over had their mouths open in astonishment.

Gokudera tried barging in through the crowd, only to be stopped by Hana. "Don't help Sawada. Can't you see that he wants to deal with this by himself? If you intervene, then he'll be angry with you. Do you understand?" Hana said. Gokudera looked at his boss. Then he tightened his fists and stopped struggling against Hana's grasp. She smiled a little and soon released her hold. "Let's see what Sawada will do."

Tsuna tightened his grip on the shinai. Right now, he had to beat Mochida then he would go home. Simple plan, but somehow he knew that things wouldn't go his way. He took a deep breath as the referee said, "Begin!"

_Just teach Mochida a lesson about using Kyoko-chan then I can leave. Just finish this pointless fight, and I can go home._

Mochida charged forward with his weapon in front of him. He raised it and brought it down in hopes of hitting Tsuna's forehead. Tsuna blocked it using the shinai and pushed back. He was being careful of restricting the amount of power he was using with the shinai. If he was too forceful than Mochida might end up with a broken skull. It didn't help that the weapon already had extra weight.

Tsuna swiped his weapon, and Mochida jumped back. The Kendo Captain went to hit Tsuna's right side as he charged forward again. The brunet blocked successfully, and then decided to go on the offensive.

_It's going to be his fault if he gets a broken arm._ Tsuna swung his shinai and knocked the weapon out of Mochida's hands. Some of the people in the audience gasped as the end was nearing. Tsuna raised his shinai at an angle and swung it so that it hit Mochida's left arm.

It sent the Kendo captain flying across the gym and into the wall. Tsuna had made sure that the wall didn't break because if it did, then he would have to deal with Hibari.

Mochida was dazed for a second as the crowd held their breath at the unexpected outcome. The crowd looked at the referee to announce the winner. Feeling the pressure, the referee declared Tsuna as the winner. Then cheering erupted as everyone started walking to the two.

However, Tsuna raised a hand to silence the crowd and make them stop in their tracks. They did stop as silence rained down again.

Tsuna walked slowly to Mochida as the Kendo captain was too shocked to move. When Tsuna was a foot away, the brunet spoke.

"Mochida-senpai, first I would like to tell you that this fight is meaningless. You can't make Kyoko-chan the prize especially without her consent. She isn't bound to the rules since she never agreed to this. She has the right to decide what to do. Second-" Tsuna began but was interrupted as someone was walking towards them.

The crowd parted to make way for Kyoko. She walked up to the two and stopped in front of Mochida. Then she raised a hand while her eyes were watering, and her eyebrows were furrowed.

_Slap!_ Mochida's face was turned to his right, and Kyoko's hand was still positioned in the air.

"Don't you ever make a fight for me! Both of you could have been hurt!" Kyoko cried as she turned around and rushed out of the gym. Tsuna turned his gaze from the frozen Mochida to Hana. Hana met Tsuna's gaze, and she nodded her head in understanding. She rushed out of the gym and after Kyoko.

The crowd soon began speaking. In fact, they were yelling at Mochida for starting this senseless fight and making Kyoko cry. The crowd began making their way to Mochida.

However, Tsuna began giving off a murderous aura that instantly silenced everyone. He looked back at Mochida who flinched under the attention. Mochida felt like he was going to be killed by Tsuna.

Tsuna took in a deep breath, and his murderous aura was gone. Many people sighed in relief. The brunet cleared his throat to make sure that all attention was on him.

"As I was saying, second she would most likely become angry like what you just saw. She hates it when people get into a fight because of her," Tsuna continued. "Now everyone in the room, except for Mochida, _leave immediately. _Go to your clubs or back home, I don't care._ Just leave._"

Tsuna gave off a more intense murderous aura. Everyone around him immediately backed away from him. Mochida backed away as far as he could into the wall.

The crowd hurried out of the gym doors to avoid being killed by Tsuna. They all just thought, _Run!_ They were all so shocked at the rumors around Dame-Tsuna being contradicted with what they just saw.

Gokudera also left. _Juudaime wants to deal with this by himself. So I can at least help him by acting as a guard to make sure no one eavesdrops on their conversation._ With a goal in mind, Gokudera hurried out of the building to stand by the double doors of the gym. When everyone was gone, he shut the doors while bringing out his dynamites to threaten the students. He would keep his promise with Tsuna about not using them. He would just use the dynamites to threaten them.

When everyone left, Tsuna looked back down at Mochida. He would never have thought that the Kendo Captain would be cowering like that. He sighed and then looked Mochida in the eyes.

"Mochida-senpai, I know you like Kyoko-chan. As for me, I do like her but mostly as a friend. So this match was a complete waste of time even if you did this to impress her. She would rather have it that you wouldn't use roundabout ways just to confess your feelings for her. So as soon as possible, I want you to apologize to her and confess to her properly," Tsuna said. He sighed again after seeing Mochida nod his head in fear. Tsuna decided that if he stayed any longer, Mochida would pass out. So he left the room through the double doors that Gokudera was guarding.

When Tsuna came out, Gokudera saluted the brunet. Tsuna looked at the silver-haired and tried to refrain himself from sighing. "Good job Gokudera-kun. I appreciate it. Now let's go."

Gokudera seemed to beam with happiness at receiving praise. "Of course!"

* * *

Tsuna and Gokudera walked over to where Kyoko and Hana were. They were at the outside sinks where anyone could use them. Kyoko was drying her face after splashing water on it. Hana was rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"Kyoko-chan, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you earlier. I just didn't want you to-" Tsuna's head was forced to the side as Kyoko slapped his face. Tsuna wasn't really surprised since he expected at least a hit from her.

"You didn't want me to worry? Tsuna-kun, I know that you were aware that I would know this sooner or later. Promise me that next time you will tell me," Kyoko said. Tsuna looked at Kyoko's determined eyes. Kyoko knew that Tsuna rarely gave anyone his word because he would do whatever it takes to fulfill the promise. But that's why she wanted him to promise her.

At the moment, Tsuna wanted to promise her so that she would relax. However, he knew that giving her his word might make him regret it later. There were many things that could go wrong, and his gut feeling was even agreeing to not promise her. But before he could stop himself, he gave a small smile and said, "I promise." Kyoko smiled back and felt that her heart was lighter. _If Tsuna-kun promised, then there's nothing to worry about._

Tsuna then remembered about Mochida. "Kyoko-chan, one more thing. I know that you are upset about Mochida starting the fight, and I know why you are upset but forgive him. I know that his tactics were foolish, but he wanted to impress you. He couldn't think of any other way to try to get you to notice him. Just give him another chance," Tsuna said. Kyoko looked at him for awhile and saw the pleading look in his eyes.

"I'll think about it," Kyoko said. Tsuna felt himself smile a little. Whenever Kyoko said those words, she meant 'okay'. She was a forgiving person in this unforgiving world.

Hana raised an eyebrow at Tsuna. _When did he care so much about Mochida-senpai?_ Her eyes met with Tsuna's, and she saw a more desperate pleading look in them. She chuckled silently to herself; Tsuna did not want to deal with this any longer.

Apparently he didn't have to since Mochida was coming closer. Tsuna said a short goodbye to Kyoko and grabbed Gokudera's wrist to pull him away. Hana patted Kyoko on the shoulder and also left.

Kyoko was left alone until Mochida came into view.

* * *

"I'm back," Tsuna said as he closed the door.

"Welcome home Tsu-kun!" Nana called from the kitchen. Tsuna could smell the amazing scents coming from the kitchen. However, he ignored it in favor of going up to his room.

He opened the door to his room and ducked from the bullet Reborn shot. He was slowly becoming accustomed to the greetings he received after opening his door from the infant. Tsuna tossed his school bag by his desk and went over to his bed. He sat down on the mattress and looked at Reborn. "I know you saw the whole thing. Don't judge."

"I only came to see if you were behaving like a Mafia Boss. It looks like you're getting used to Gokudera as your subordinate," Reborn said. Tsuna shook his head in denial.

"I am not becoming a Mafia Boss. No way am I becoming the leader of a syndicate crime organization," Tsuna said. Reborn's smirk only seemed to grow. "I don't know what you're planning but don't think that you can control my life. I won't stay silent if you plan to manipulate me."

"Who says that I plan to manipulate you?" Reborn asked. Tsuna stared back into Reborn's onyx black eyes.

"Don't play dumb. What do you think this morning was? Running around at three AM isn't my cup of tea," Tsuna snapped. Reborn smirked triumphantly.

"You say that you won't stay quiet yet you couldn't protest. You couldn't do anything productive," Reborn said. Tsuna stared at the infant, a little loss for words.

"I..." Tsuna trailed off. Reborn's smirk grew again. This, in return, annoyed Tsuna even more. "Agh! What do you want? Are you trying to fulfill your sadistic nature by torturing me?"

Tsuna lay down on his bed and brought his pillow over his face. He screamed out his frustration into it. Reborn saw how easy it was to fluster the brunet.

He was slightly relieved that Tsuna still possessed some naivety. After all, the reason why Nono had picked Tsuna over Xanxus was that he thought Tsuna would be able to turn Vongola into the way it originally was, into a vigilant group that served to protect others. If Tsuna was already too involved in the Mafia, then things would be more complicated.

Leon turned into a taser, and Reborn walked towards Tsuna. Yes, it was lucky for Reborn that Tsuna was still a bit naive. That way, he could test his weapons on the brunet every time he gave him a reason to do so.

* * *

A/N: Did you guess correctly on who was trying to court the school's idol? I don't think I would have if someone else had written this story.


	7. Chapter 7 The Feelings Rain Brings About

A/N: Thank you Kirimi-1999, Yoshikuni Itoe, Lexie-chan94, Mockingjay Rose, BrokenBlackCat, and White Ivy for your reviews! And thank you to those who read the chapter, reviewed, put the story on alert, and put the story on the favorite list!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 7:

The Feelings Rain Brings About

"You rejected him?" Tsuna asked Kyoko again for the seventh time.

"Yes. You did say that I had the right to decide what to do," Kyoko explained. Tsuna still wasn't sure about Kyoko's reasoning. Sure he thought that Mochida was egotistic but... _Wait, why am I defending him?_ Tsuna himself couldn't answer that question. "I just didn't have the same feelings for him."

"I see," Tsuna replied. He stopped asking any more questions since he could tell that Kyoko was becoming uncomfortable with the topic.

Then he heard someone's laughter that could be categorized as a joyful and carefree one. However, Tsuna could identify a bland tone hiding within it, as if the laughter was more of a habit than sincere joy. Tsuna turned his gaze to the owner of the laughter; it was Yamamoto Takeshi. Tsuna saw the forced smile on the ace baseball player's face. That was strange. When was Yamamoto's smile ever like that?

"Juudaime, are you sure that you don't want me to take care of that Mochida?" Gokudera asked. Tsuna shook his head; he didn't want to attract any more attention.

"Sawada, have you noticed anything different today?" Hana asked suddenly. Tsuna shook his head again. "Come on. I know you're more observant than that."

Tsuna thought back on the hour that he was awake. Well Reborn didn't wake him up at three in the morning, but he doubted that Hana knew that. _Breakfast was the same. Gokudera-kun came by my house, and Reborn followed me to school. Nothing really different happened ever since Reborn messed up my life._

Hana sighed. "You really don't know?" Tsuna was getting impatient. "No one called you Dame-Tsuna."

"No one really talks to me except the three of you," Tsuna reminded.

"But did you notice that some people seem to avoid you? Or how some people are staring at you?" Hana said loud enough so that only they could hear. Tsuna turned his head around and saw people looking at him. They nervously and quickly looked the other way in hopes that Tsuna didn't notice them.

Tsuna sighed exasperatedly and sunk in his chair. _If only Mochida-senpai used his head and asked Kyoko-chan in the first place than I wouldn't be in this mess._

"Juudaime, I am willing to deal with Mochida for you. Not a single trace of him will be left behind after I deal with him," Gokudera said hopefully. Tsuna buried his face in his hands and shook them side-to-side.

"No Gokudera-kun. No killing. No maiming. No incapacitating. No burning. Just don't do anything to Mochida-senpai," Tsuna pleaded through his hands. Gokudera seemed to get the message as he gave up on avenging Tsuna.

* * *

Now was time for physical education. The majority of the students were still scared about yesterday's incident. The others just didn't know what to make of it. There were two people left to choose for the teams. Tsuna was one of them and the other was Kaneda Osamu. The two team leaders were fighting over him.

"It's my turn to pick."

"Well you can have Tsuna. You'll be lucky with someone who can defeat Mochida-senpai on your team."

"No you can have Tsuna. I insist."

"Kaneda likes our team better."

Tsuna sighed at the childish bickering. _The time when I need Gokudera-kun is the time when he isn't here. Oh well, he won't be around for a while. He needed to refill his dynamite supply after all. Who knows how much dynamite that guy has on him?_

"Sensei, may I please be excused? I'll be going to the nurse's office," Tsuna said before the teacher got the chance to answer. Tsuna walked away to solve his classmates' problems.

Everyone sighed in relief, and the team leaders stopped insisting upon the other. No one really cared that the teams were uneven as long as Tsuna was gone.

However they were surprised when Yamamoto left. "Sensei, I'm going to the nurse too." Before the teacher could reply, Yamamoto was out of sight.

Now Tsuna was in the hallway with the intention of going to the roof. The roof was one of the most peaceful places in the school where Tsuna could be alone and didn't have to deal with the troubling nature of others.

He was about to climb the stairs when a voice stopped him. "Tsuna, wait up!"

Tsuna turned his attention to Yamamoto who smiled at him. "Yamamoto, what are you doing here? I thought you were playing baseball with the others."

"Haha, well, the teams were uneven so I thought I should sit out for once. It's not a fair game if one of the baseball players is on a team," Yamamoto explained. Tsuna looked suspiciously at the baseball player. Yamamoto seemed to notice the skeptic look and his smile faltered a little.

"Okay, but why are you following me?" Tsuna asked as he began his walk again.

"It would be boring if I was just wandering around the school. Besides that, I wanted to talk to you," Yamamoto said. Tsuna seemed to accept this as he nodded his head.

"Alright. Follow me, we're heading to the roof," Tsuna declared. Yamamoto seemed to be happy as he followed Tsuna up the stairs.

* * *

Now at the roof, Tsuna was leaning gently against the fence while Yamamoto sat next to him on his left. Tsuna took in the moment of peace and silence before looking at Yamamoto. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well lately you've been amazing. Like in the Kendo match. I've got you checked in my book," Yamamoto said. Tsuna was taken aback by the praises so he stayed quiet. While in his mind he was thinking, _Great, more attention._ "In comparison, I just play baseball like it's all I know."

"What are you talking about? It's that baseball skill that's amazing," Tsuna replied while not comprehending Yamamoto's words.

"It's not going that well," Yamamoto confessed. "Lately, no matter how much I practice, my average is dropping and my fielding is messing up. At this rate, it'll be the first time I don't start since I began playing baseball. Tsuna... what should I do?"

Tsuna stared at Yamamoto. _So this is his reason for wanting to talk to me._ "Why are you asking me instead of someone else?"

"Well, lately, you're so reliable so I just..." Yamamoto began. Tsuna saw the pained smile on Yamamoto's face. He hated seeing the jolly baseball player being melancholy and desperate. However, he didn't want to say the wrong things.

"Yamamoto, before I give out any advice, why did you first start playing baseball?" Tsuna asked seriously. Yamamoto looked at Tsuna's eyes and saw that he wasn't joking around.

"I played baseball because it's fun," Yamamoto answered honestly.

"And what did you do with that passion? Where has it gotten you today?"

"I began dedicating my entire time playing the sport. I practiced and practiced and became one of the best in my grade. I joined many baseball teams and soon baseball became my life. But now, I'm going nowhere," Yamamoto said. Tsuna nodded his head. He knew how desperate and hopeless Yamamoto was just by looking at his eyes. This wasn't an issue to joke about; this must be Yamamoto's last effort before something else happened.

"You first played baseball since it was fun and interested you. Now you play it because you invested your entire life in it. Is it still as fun?" Tsuna asked.

"Of course!" Yamamoto immediately said. Tsuna looked skeptically at him.

"Are you sure? Baseball seems to be the problem of your troubles. Your deteriorating stats make you nervous around others who bring up the topic of baseball. You force a smile and your laughter even sounds pained. You're living a lie right now just to hide your troubles," Tsuna said. Yamamoto looked surprised that Tsuna caught on to his fake smiles and laughter. _When did he notice?_ "Yamamoto, I don't want you to participate in next week's game."

"Why?" Yamamoto said a bit angrily. If Tsuna understood how much baseball means to him, than why would he say that?

"I'm just trying to help. I want you to take a break from baseball. Getting frustrated over your troubles will only make things worse. Once the next baseball match is over, you'll hopefully realize something. If you don't, take a break from school. Tell your father about your problems. He'll listen," Tsuna explained.

"Tsuna, I can't miss next week's game. Everyone's depending on me. And I can't tell my father either. I'll just cause unnecessary worry for him," Yamamoto said.

"Yamamoto, _take a break from baseball._ Your team can play the game without you. Baseball is supposed to be a team sport where no one should be burdened by the team in order to win. You shouldn't be the one who should be the deciding factor between your team's win and loss," Tsuna replied.

"Tsuna, I thought you understood me more than anyone else. Why can't you see how important baseball is to me?" Yamamoto yelled as he stood up.

"I do!" Tsuna shouted back frustratingly. "Believe me, I do."

"Then why are you saying things to bring me down? You're not helping me at all!" Yamamoto stormed off towards the door.

"Yamamoto, wait!" Tsuna shouted, but the door was slammed shut. Tsuna was close to ripping his hair out. He was just trying to help Yamamoto. _Why do I care so much about him? It's his choice whether he wants to listen to me or not._

Even if Tsuna thought that, he was torn between the decision of going after Yamamoto or staying on the roof. _He needs to think about what I said by himself. There's nothing I can do to help him right now._ However, no matter how many times Tsuna tried to reassure himself that he was doing the right thing, he still felt anxious. _I hope he doesn't do anything reckless._

* * *

The next day, Tsuna arrived to school earlier than usual. All day yesterday he was worried for Yamamoto. And now, his intuition was going haywire. _Just relax. Just relax._

Tsuna sat down at his seat and looked around the classroom. Yamamoto wasn't here. _He's probably coming later. It's still early for school._

However, he thought he was going to have a heart attack when someone slammed open the doors of the classroom. Tsuna relaxed slightly after seeing that it wasn't the baseball player, but the next thing he heard made it harder to breathe. "Hey everyone! Yamamoto is about to jump off the roof!" However, most of the class seemed skeptical of what they heard.

"Yamamoto from our class?"

"Him? That's impossible."

"There're good and bad pranks, you know."

"When he stayed after school practicing yesterday, he went too far and broke his arm!" Immediately after, everyone in the room hurried out of the classroom and to the roof. Tsuna sat in his chair in disbelief.

_He probably practiced to prove me wrong._ "Tsuna-kun?" _It's my fault!_ "Tsuna-kun, let's go!"

Tsuna snapped back into reality and turned his gaze to Kyoko. "Uh, yeah! Let's hurry!"

* * *

When Tsuna entered the roof, he saw a crowd of people standing in the middle with Yamamoto at the other side of the fence.

"Hey Yamamoto, this isn't funny!"

"You're taking it too far!"

"Heh. Sorry, but that's not true. After the baseball God threw me away, I have nothing left," Yamamoto said. Tsuna's face paled upon hearing those words. Yamamoto was definitely serious; this was what Tsuna was afraid of. He then looked around again and saw that no one was going up to save Yamamoto. _Why isn't anyone trying to stop him? Why isn't anyone going up to him?_

Tsuna clenched his fists and took off running. He barged through the crowd as he hurried to Yamamoto before it was too late. "Yamamoto!"

Tsuna pushed through the crowd and stopped before the fence. Now that Tsuna was closer to Yamamoto, he could see that the baseball player had his right arm in a cast. Yamamoto looked at Tsuna with sad eyes but was taken aback as he met Tsuna's fierce gaze.

Then his eyes softened in apology as he said, "Tsuna, I'm sorry for yelling and running away from you yesterday. I know that you were just trying to help. But if you came to stop me, it's no use. You should be able to understand my feelings. For someone that's called Dame-Tsuna all the time, you can understand the feeling of preferring to die over failing at everything, right?"

"Yamamoto..." Tsuna began. His eyebrows narrowed in concentration as he locked his serious caramel eyes with Yamamoto's dull light mocha ones. "Even if you're right, I'm still alive, aren't I? I didn't take the final step towards death!"

Yamamoto looked at Tsuna, shocked. Everyone around them remained silent, not knowing how to react.

"I know that you think baseball is your life. It's everything you put your time in. If baseball is taken away from you, you feel like you can't do anything else and deserve to die since you don't know what else to do. But you should live. I wanted you to learn this on your own, but it looks like it couldn't be helped. I didn't want you to go to next week's game because I wanted you to realize that you don't need baseball to live. You don't have to play the game to continue to be alive. You still have your father; you still have people who welcome you with open arms. So please..." Tsuna's eyes softened, and his eyebrows were no longer furrowed. "...Please don't take the final step towards death."

Tsuna lowered his head, and his bangs covered his face. He turned around to start walking away when Yamamoto reached out. "Wait, Tsuna."

Yamamoto suddenly grabbed the back of Tsuna's shirt causing the brunet to fall back due to the pull. The crowd gasped as they watched as Tsuna fell backwards to the fence. With a snap, the fence broke from Tsuna's weight, and the two classmates fell off the roof.

"Kyaaaa!"

Tsuna could hear his classmates scream in horror. He could see Yamamoto tumbling down to the ground. Then he realized that he was also falling.

_Yamamoto can't die yet! Not after I was so close to convincing him to live!_

Tsuna brought his arms close to his body and his legs together to lessen the wind resistance. His speed increased as the distance between him and Yamamoto closed. With one hand, he grabbed Yamamoto's free arm. With the other hand, Tsuna tried to grasp anything on the wall of the school.

As they fell closer to the ground, Tsuna's hand managed to grab the ledge of a window. Now Tsuna was hanging on the ledge while tightly holding Yamamoto's wrist.

Yamamoto looked astonished at Tsuna but came back to reality. "Tsuna, let go! You're going to fall too!"

"Shut up! We're both getting out of this alive! Just trust me!" Tsuna yelled back while looking all over the place for something. Yamamoto's eyes widened until it returned back to their original state.

"Okay, I'll trust you. Just let me help in any way I can!" Yamamoto answered back resolutely. Tsuna nodded his head quickly before his eyes settled on something.

"Alright, prepare yourself," Tsuna said. He took in a deep breath and then clenched his teeth in concentration. He swung Yamamoto a little bit towards the wall and then swiftly in the opposite direction.

Yamamoto was a bit stunned about the act but soon recomposed himself to prepare for the impact. He felt the branches of trees and leaves brush against his skin. However, what he landed on was unexpected to him.

Yamamoto bounced up a little again and again until his back was flat against the surface. He turned his head to see a green trampoline with some sort of face on it.

Meanwhile, Tsuna was losing his grasp on the ledge. That didn't matter as he released his hold on the ledge and was soon falling down again. He did a backflip and landed safely on the ground.

Then Tsuna collapsed into a sitting position on the ground. He looked up to the roof and saw Kyoko watching him. He smiled at her in reassurance, and she smiled back in understanding. Soon she left the roof to check for available beds in the nurse's office.

The bushes began to rustle and out came Yamamoto with Reborn on his shoulder. Except for the little scratches from the leaves and branches, Yamamoto looked fine.

"Yamamoto, are you okay?" Tsuna asked to make sure.

"Yeah," Yamamoto replied while sitting down next to Tsuna, also worn out. "Sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. Nothing good comes from idiocy."

Tsuna smiled after seeing a real smile from Yamamoto. "It's alright. Just don't do that ever again."

After Tsuna said that, he suddenly lay down to the ground and closed his eyes. "Tsuna?" Yamamoto poked the brunet on the shoulder, but Tsuna didn't respond.

"Don't worry about Tsuna. He passed out from exhaustion. Let's bring him to the nurse's office," Reborn said. Yamamoto half-dragged and half-carried Tsuna inside using his good arm. Reborn smirked to himself as he used his own shortcut. "Family acquired."

* * *

A/N: I'll update next week on Thursday again unless something I haven't planned shows up. I'm considering on changing the summary for SOAMB since the summary mostly applies to the plot(when the Daily Life Arc ends). But even with this current summary, I think my idea changed for what happens after the Daily Life Arc(the plot is constantly changing the more I plan). So what do you think? Should I change the summary or keep it the same?


	8. Chapter 8 Family Entrance Test

A/N: Thank you BrokenBlackCat, Lexie-chan94, Yuu3, mangopudding, and Yoshikuni Itoe for the reviews! And thank you Dolcetto o Scherzetto for the information about the blackout! I don't think I would have known about it being GMT time if you didn't say.

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert!

**_ATTENTION: Please read this. These are Akahama Nera's words:_**

"i made this story/letter to this site, and it was deleted the next day. if its not a bother, please please please spread the word:

This is war.

I know violence is not the answer, but Critics United and the admins have seemed to have collaborated and deleted some stories already. It's quite ironic that they listen to the Critics, and not the majority of the site.

Now, this is my idea.

We could post a story, or a chapter of a letter rejecting the deletions. Also, we can send mails altogether to the admins, so they would take us seriously and listen to us. Another thing is another Black Out day...but different.

JULY 4TH (GMT)

No posting. No reviewing. No reading. No anything.  
Nothing but one story or chapter pertaining to this issue.

On this day, all those who have something against this site shall post their letters all at the same time, and that's it. Leave immediately and come back soon. This way, the site would take us seriously, with us posting threats and our opinions in public and that is all. Nothing more, nothing less.

Please promote this in all other fandoms for it to be known. Thanks!"

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 8:

Family Entrance Test

"Sawada Tsunayoshi, please report to the guidance office."

Multiple heads in the room turned towards the aforementioned brunette. Among those were Kyoko, Hana, Gokudera, and Yamamoto. Tsuna let out a silent sigh as he stood up from his seat; he could only begin to guess on what the matter was that needed to be settled with the guidance counselor. But then again, Tsuna could definitely predict on who was in the guidance office or, more accurately, who was the counselor.

"I hope Reborn didn't do anything to the regular counselor," Tsuna muttered as he left the classroom without looking at any of his classmates in the eye. "He was a good counselor." None of the classmates heard the brunette so they went back to learning the lesson after the door to the classroom closed.

As Tsuna began his leisure walk towards the office, he began to reflect upon the week. Monday was when Reborn came into his life; Tuesday was when Gokudera came. Then Wednesday was the fight with Mochida. Thursday was the encounter with Yamamoto, and Friday was the day he had to help the baseball player out of his suicide attempt. Now it was Saturday; luckily and thankfully on Saturdays, school ended near noon.

"I've had enough of this week. I just want it to end as peacefully as possible, but that can never happen," Tsuna grumbled as he massaged his forehead. Yesterday, he still had to attend classes after he woke up. He was assaulted with many questions from his classmates after school and had to flee. However, that wasn't the worst part. At home, he was being "tutored" by Reborn to compensate for the classes he missed, and he was running on low since the only food he ate was breakfast. However, the infant stole most of his breakfast so he only ate scrambled eggs and a piece of bacon. Tsuna was only allowed a break for dinner; after that he still had lessons and had collapsed on his bed after Reborn decided to go to sleep. Tsuna was thankful that Reborn was an infant and infants tend to sleep early.

There was one sentence that Tsuna could think of at the moment that he could full-heartedly agree on. This was by far the most hectic week he ever had.

Before he knew it, he was already in front of the guidance office's door. Remembering his manners, Tsuna knocked politely on the door and entered when he heard a gruff voice say, "Come in." _At least I know that Reborn's not the counselor, but whose voice it that?_

Tsuna's left eyebrow twitched upon seeing who it was. "Sawada, the regular guidance counselor went on vacation for a week so I will be substituting for him," the substitute said.

"Reborn, I know you're somewhere in the room so come out," Tsuna said tiredly. "Why is Trident Shamal here? He's not a counselor."

"Oh, so you know my name?" Shamal asked. Tsuna ignored him in favor of trying to find Reborn before the infant ended up kicking the side of his face. However, Tsuna didn't have to worry since he felt something land on top of his head.

"Ciaossu. It doesn't matter why Shamal is here. Besides, you want to know why I had you come here," Reborn said as he leapt off of Tsuna's head and onto the table in front of the brunette. With a clear view of Reborn, Tsuna saw that the infant wore a doctor costume, complete with defibrillators and sterilized gloves.

"Don't tell me you're trying to copy Shamal with the doctor look," Tsuna said. He took a seat at the table, sensing that he would have to stay here for quite awhile. Shamal felt ignored so he, too, took a seat at the table across from Tsuna.

"You'll find out what these are for later," Reborn said with a mischievous smirk adorning his face as he put the defibrillators away in his jacket. "But I have some questions I need you to answer."

"And what makes you think I'll answer them?" Tsuna asked although he knew that Reborn would find a way to force him to cooperate. His thoughts were confirmed when the infant pointed his gun at Tsuna.

"You owe me. If it wasn't for Leon, who is my partner, Yamamoto would not have been saved," Reborn reminded. Now Tsuna was sincerely regretting for not using a different method to save the baseball player.

_Instead of using Leon-turned trampoline, I could have thrown Yamamoto through the window, but he'll most likely be bleeding,_ Tsuna mused. He was brought back to the current situation when Reborn shot a bullet that grazed his left cheek.

"Fine. I'll answer your questions, but you get thirty seconds," Tsuna said with his arms folded. Reborn, however, had to disagree.

"Two minutes," Reborn said.

"Thirty seconds. I am not negotiating," Tsuna answered back.

"One minute," Reborn replied. The two of them stared at each other. Tsuna glared at Reborn while the infant stared back with his onyx black eyes.

"Fine. You get one minute," Tsuna gave in as he turned his head in annoyance. Reborn's smirk only grew.

"Alright. Yesterday and the day before, you seemed insistent on helping Yamamoto. From what I can tell with your interaction with Gokudera, you don't like associating yourself with others. So why did you behave that way?" Reborn questioned with no trace of a smirk left.

"Yamamoto asked me for help. I gave my answer and things didn't go so smoothly. Anything else?" Tsuna asked with his eyes slightly narrowing. _I don't need to tell him my personal life. No matter what he asks, I can't tell him the whole truth._

"Even so, for you to worry so much that you could hardly fall asleep, I doubt that you're telling me the whole story," Reborn explained. The tension between the two was increasing. It was as if the two were no longer teacher and student but hitman and target. One was the interrogator while the other was the victim. But even Reborn had to limit his actions here since Tsuna was not only the interrogated but also his student. And Tsuna knew that Reborn would not do anything risky to the only heir to the Vongola Family.

"What I did was similar to what happened to Gokudera. I only saved their lives because anyone else would," Tsuna replied.

"Could what you're hiding possibly have anything to do with people's lives?" Reborn guessed although he sounded confident. He knew he was getting somewhere since Tsuna's eyes minutely widened, only to return to their narrowed form.

"Your minute is up," Tsuna said. The brunette closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he exhaled and opened his eyes. The tension in the room disappeared when the serious expression on Tsuna's face fell away. "Can I go to class now?"

"Nope. You're not leaving yet," Reborn answered. Tsuna was about to protest when he heard a sound.

_Knock! Knock!_ The silver-colored doorknob turned and in came two people. Tsuna banged his head against the table at seeing who it was.

"Reborn, what are they here doing here?" Tsuna asked with his forehead still on the table.

"We were called down here. Wow, it's like a party in here with so many people!" Yamamoto exclaimed cheerily.

"Shamal! What are you doing here?" Gokudera asked the doctor. Tsuna raised his head and looked at the two. _When did they know each other?_

"Oh, Hayato. I didn't know you were here," Shamal said uncaringly. "Reborn said that I could get the position as school nurse if I helped him. Where's your sister?"

"Do you think I would know?" Gokudera scowled as he looked away in disgust. Tsuna looked at Shamal, then at Reborn. What was the hitman planning, especially since Shamal was here? "Yakyuu-baka! I should be the one who sits next to Juudaime!" Tsuna could predict what was upsetting the bomber without even looking at him.

With a sigh, Tsuna turned his head to his left. Sitting in the seat was Yamamoto who was smiling despite the situation he was in. His body was turned so that it was facing Gokudera who stood in front of him with dynamites in his hands.

"Maa maa, there's a seat on the other side of the table," Yamamoto pointed out. However, Gokudera didn't seem to care or even hear him until Tsuna intervened.

"Gokudera-kun, can you please sit on the other side for now?" Tsuna pleaded tiredly. He was getting annoyed that Gokudera was being too clingy and wanted to always be the one next to him. The silver-haired nodded his head and went to do what was asked although he was a bit disappointed. _He's just like a child._

"Okay, now that you two are here, let's start the Family entrance test," Reborn announced. The brunette stared at the infant questioningly. _Didn't he want me here to talk to me?_

"Haha, what game are we playing?" Yamamoto asked, slightly curious since an infant was the one who was conducting the "test". Reborn smirked and turned his attention to the baseball player.

"That's right. You don't know yet. I'm Reborn, Tsuna's home-tutor. I'm training Tsuna to become a Mafia Boss," Reborn replied with a childish tone. _How can he say all those things to a civilian?_

"Haha, Tsuna, I like your tutor. He has a good sense of humor," Yamamoto commented as he picked Reborn up and placed him on his shoulder. Tsuna hoped that the baseball player won't be faced Reborn's fury for treating him like a baby. However, when a couple of seconds passed and Reborn still didn't do anything, it became clear to the brunette that Reborn was going along with Yamamoto for the same reason that this "Family Entrance Test" was planned: It was to recruit Yamamoto into his Family that he still didn't want.

"Tsuna is to become the tenth boss of the most powerful Mafia Family, the Vongola Family," Reborn explained. Here comes a twitch from Tsuna's eyebrow.

"Good choice," Yamamoto complimented.

"Reborn, don't drag Yamamoto into the Mafia," Tsuna said. _Ah, what am I saying? Reborn doesn't care what I say, and Yamamoto probably doesn't believe him either._ Yamamoto's next words only further proved Tsuna's thoughts.

"It's okay Tsuna. Haven't you ever played the game cops-and-robbers before?" Yamamoto asked. _I thought so._ Shamal and Gokudera, however, still had to grow accustomed to Yamamoto's perspective of things so they could only stare incredulously and questioningly at the baseball player. Yamamoto, on the other hand, was oblivious to all the attention he was receiving.

"Now Gokudera and Yamamoto will take the entrance test to see if they can be a part of Tsuna's Family," Reborn repeated. "First there is a written test." Now before Tsuna could protest, he was was cut off by two very energetic people.

"Juudaime, I will definitely pass this test!" Gokudera declared determinedly.

"Me too!" Yamamoto said cheerfully. However, Gokudera saw Yamamoto as a rival as electricity flowed between them. Yet again, Yamamoto was oblivious to this.

"This test will be about how well you know Tsuna," Reborn continued, only to be finally questioned by Tsuna.

"But I only met Gokudera-kun this Tuesday, and Yamamoto wasn't close to me before yesterday," Tsuna reminded. However, Reborn ignored him in favor of handing out two pieces of paper to the people being tested. Tsuna groaned and slumped in his chair; at least Yamamoto and Gokudera won't be injured during this part of the test.

Reborn turned around and gave Shamal a certain look that made Tsuna suspicious. Suddenly he received a feeling of foreboding as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The prickling feeling on his neck only confirmed his premonition as he rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. He looked around and saw that a mosquito was flying back to the pill Shamal had opened.

Tsuna opened his mouth to question what the doctor did but nothing came out. Not even a single sound. He looked at Shamal for answers. "Sorry kid, but I had an agreement with Reborn. There should be side effects but don't worry. The symptoms should last until school ends."

After the words registered in the brunette's mind, Tsuna glared at Reborn while trying to convey the message of "I hate you" across. Reborn smirked. "Dame-Tsuna, if I didn't do this, then you would have tried to stop this entrance test." Tsuna banged his forehead on the table repeatedly.

"Juudaime, are you okay?" Gokudera asked in concern. Tsuna nodded his head with his forehead still on the table. However, he really wanted to shake his head no, but that would only cause Gokudera to panic.

"Enough chatter," Reborn intervened. "The test begins now!"

* * *

Ten minutes passed, and the test was over. All they had to do now was to see how many questions each person was able to answer correctly. During the testing period, Gokudera wrote his answers hurriedly in order to finish first while Yamamoto took his jolly time. Tsuna, on the other hand, was looking through a copy of Shamal's file that the doctor sent to get a position in the school. Just like the brunette thought, it was fake although that was to be expected since Shamal is an assassin in the Mafia and not a counselor.

"Okay, we're going to check your answers." Reborn said. Shamal handed Tsuna a white board with an erasable marker. "First question, what is your favorite color?" Reborn asked Tsuna.

Tsuna didn't know why he had to do this since he never wanted to be the boss of the Vongola Famiglia. Nevertheless, he wrote down the answer. "Orange" was written down on the board.

Yamamoto laughed since he wrote the correct answer while Gokudera was hitting himself as punishment for incorrectly answering the question.

"Next question, what is your favorite food?" Reborn asked Tsuna once again. Tsuna wrote down the answer except this time he realized something that he should have realized with the previous question. He was writing down the answer against his will. Something was forcing him to do it, and he suspected that whatever the mosquito injected into him was the cause.

"Hamburger" was written this time. Gokudera had gotten it correct from a guess, and Yamamoto had scratched the back of his head. The baseball player had gotten it wrong, but he was having fun.

Tsuna glared daggers at Reborn, not that it was his first time doing so. He remembered the conversation he had with Reborn on the day he fought with Mochida. _I won't stay silent if you plan to manipulate me._ Reborn smirked as if he knew why Tsuna was angry; well, he did know since he had hoped for this reaction.

_Reborn wanted to prove me wrong, but I didn't mean it literally when I said that I won't stay silent!_

Checking the rest of the test went on like it had before. By now, Tsuna had given up on trying to find a way to go against the drug; no matter what he did, he never achieved much besides frustration. He had to wait until school ended like what Shamal said.

By some twist of fate, Yamamoto and Gokudera were tied. Apparently, Yamamoto had guessed, and Gokudera deducted the most likely answer from what he knew. In other words, he guessed.

"Juudaime! I'm so sorry that I couldn't have gotten a higher score!" Gokudera shouted while bowing repeatedly. Yamamoto started laughing, thinking that Gokudera was funnier than he had previously thought. Tsuna hung his head at their antics. _Why do I have to deal with this?_

"Tsuna, bring them outside to the baseball field," Reborn said. The brunette looked at him questioningly. "Just do it."

"Are we going to play baseball?" Yamamoto asked as yesterday's event were replaying in his mind. Unconsciously, he touched his right arm, which was still in a cast.

"No we're not," Reborn replied. "But the second part of the test includes your athletic abilities."

"So is this a competition?" Yamamoto asked. Reborn nodded his head with a smirk on his face. Yamamoto followed suit with a smile on his face. "Haha, looks like Gokudera is my rival then."

"You idiot, take this test seriously! But I don't care if you fail; Juudaime doesn't need you in his Family," Gokudera scoffed. Tsuna tried massaging his forehead to calm himself. _I am not becoming the boss in the first place. Nothing anyone does can make me become the boss._

"Dame-Tsuna, get going," Reborn ordered as he aimed a kick at Tsuna's head. Tsuna reacted too late and ended up on the floor.

"Juudaime, are you all right?" Gokudera asked frantically while helping the brunette sit up.

"Kid, that was an amazing landing!" Yamamoto complimented as he clapped his hands. Tsuna tried glaring at Reborn, yet again, while rubbing his head to soothe the pain. _Sadistic infant._

* * *

_Everyone who was in the guidance office was now on the baseball field. No other people were there since classes were still in session. Tsuna looked around and saw a suspicious bag nearby. He could only imagine all the possible horrors the infant brought along._

Reborn walked over to the bag and searched for something specific. When he found it, he smirked and pulled it out so that it was visible to everyone's eyes. Then he began speaking. "For the second part of the test, you two will..."

Before Reborn was able to finish, Tsuna stormed over to the infant and forcibly confiscated the item. The item was a rifle. The brunette took the rifle in his hands and broke it in half. To get his point across, he stomped on it until it was in hundreds of pieces.

"Shamal, was the first part of the disease over?" Reborn asked the doctor.

"It seems so," Dr. Shamal replied. Tsuna turned his gaze towards him with an expression demanding answers. "The illness my trident mosquito gave you has different symptoms that is able to be divided into three periods. However, throughout the entire thing, you are mute. The first period was to answer and obey someone honestly. Now the second period will be paralysis of the lower part of your body. The third part will make you deaf and blind. However, in some extremely rare instance people have reported that they lose the sense of touch."

Tsuna stared at Reborn in anger. _I am not your toy!_ He wanted to go over to the infant and strangle him. Tsuna had hoped that the saying "What goes around comes around" would apply to Reborn.

"As I was saying before Dame-Tsuna interrupted me, Gokudera and Yamamoto will be tested on endurance, speed, and adaptability. The goal of this is to survive," Reborn said as he brought out multiple knives from the bag. Tsuna was about to grab the weapon and break it when he felt his legs become weary. Soon he dropped to the ground in a kneeling position.

Tsuna stared at Reborn again; if looks could kill, Reborn would be dead, and his body would be ripped to shreds. Reborn smirked and continued to explain the test. Tsuna began hitting his legs in an effort to try to wake them up so he could go over and annihilate Reborn. However, his attempts were futile, and ultimately he gave up.

"This test will last for at least ten minutes," Reborn continued. "I've already prepared the field."

Tsuna looked around once again and saw nothing peculiar. However, he thought back to the time they arrived there. _From what I remember, Reborn had us walk in a certain path. Don't tell me he prepared land mines._ Tsuna sweat dropped and looked at Gokudera and Yamamoto. _Is Reborn trying to kill them even after I saved them?_

"Good luck to you Gokudera!" Yamamoto cheerfully said with a wave. Gokudera snorted as he turned away from the baseball player.

"You're the one who needs the luck," Gokudera scoffed. However, Yamamoto took it as encouragement.

"Let's start," Reborn said, and immediately he threw the knives at the two. Yamamoto ducked and Gokudera took a step to the right. So far no explosions.

Tsuna felt the collar of his shirt being pulled and looked behind him to see Shamal. _This is Reborn's plan: To make me suffer while keeping me alive._

As Tsuna was dragged away to safety, Reborn threw more knives except at a faster speed. Yamamoto managed to dodge three of them with his speed but walked too much to the left. One of the land mines exploded, and Tsuna's eyes widened. During that time, Gokudera had dodged two knives, but one of them cut his cheek. Then that knife hit one of the land mines and caused it to explode.

The smoke lingered causing Tsuna's anxiety to rise. A couple of seconds seemed like an eternity had passed. The smoke started to clear and soon Tsuna saw an outline of someone.

"Cough cough. That was some realistic toy," the voice said. Immediately Tsuna knew that it was Yamamoto. He would be the only one who thought that they were still playing a game, but what about Gokudera?

Tsuna kept his gaze where he thought Gokudera was within the smoke. A few seconds later, he heard a voice. "Tch. That baseball-idiot's still alive."

Gokudera was okay. There was only dust on him and a scratch on his cheek, nothing life threatening. It looks like both of them had managed to avoid receiving fatal injuries.

"You two seem to be fine with knives. Now onto the bow-gun," Reborn announced. The little hitman brought out the weapon from the bag and pointed it at the two.

Reborn first aimed at Gokudera who ducked his head. Then the infant aimed at Yamamoto who took a careful step to the side. Less than a second later Gokudera became the target again. Now this time the silver-haired had to take a risk and run to his right. He could have stepped on a land mine but luckily nothing exploded.

However, Tsuna saw a motion in the trees, and soon an onslaught of arrows came raining down on Gokudera. Gokudera was stunned for a second but regained his composure. Then he did what he does best; Gokudera brought out his dynamites to unleash mass destruction.

With a swift movement, the dynamites were thrown in the air. Then it exploded, knocking the arrows to the side. However, the blast of the dynamites managed to activate another hidden trap. This time, poisonous knives and daggers came from the top of the trees and came hurtling towards Yamamoto. The baseball player not only had to deal with the knives, but also with Reborn.

Tsuna tried to stand up only to fall back down again. He cursed himself in his mind over and over again. He had to stop Reborn before he killed Yamamoto and Gokudera. "It's useless. You can't stand up. Just wait until noon so I can give you the antidote," Shamal said.

Upon hearing the word antidote, Tsuna looked up at Shamal. _If I can get the antidote, then I can stop this stupid test._ Tsuna looked pleadingly at Shamal, but the doctor only shook his head. _I tried to be nice,_ Tsuna thought. _But it looks like it can't be helped._

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as he brought out his gun. Shamal hadn't been expecting that as he stared at Tsuna. Shamal didn't believe that Tsuna would be able to shoot him. However, he saw that Tsuna's eyes said something like "Try me."

He'd rather not test that out. So he brought out his case where he kept all the mosquito pills. He threw it to Tsuna who caught it. Tsuna opened the case while still keeping his gun pointed at Shamal. However, when he opened it, all the pills were identical. Tsuna had no clue where the right antidote was.

Suddenly he felt something nip the back of his neck. He immediately released his gun, and his hands dropped to the sides. Shamal picked up his case and closed it. "Your arms and hands are paralyzed for only a minute," Shamal said. "Also, only I know which pill is which. I might also decide not to give you the antidote at noon."

Tsuna glared at Shamal; then he stuck his tongue at the doctor and turned his head to the side in annoyance. This was the best Tsuna could do to express his anger. _This is all Reborn's fault._

Doctor Shamal decided that it was best if he left Tsuna; the deal with Reborn said that he only had to be around the group but not exactly next to the brunette. So Shamal left with his case, leaving Tsuna by himself. The doctor didn't want to meet the brunette's gun again.

When Tsuna saw Shamal leave, he couldn't blame him. Tsuna did just point a gun at the doctor. Soon Tsuna felt in control of his arms and hands again. He clenched and unclenched his hands to regain more feeling in them. A minute had passed just like Shamal said.

And just as Tsuna regained feeling in his hands, he also regained feeling in his legs. _Finally, now I can stop this test!_ Tsuna stood up slowly to allow his legs time to wake up. He looked over to where the test was and saw black. _Smoke, but why didn't I hear anything?_

Tsuna stood frozen as realization dawned on him. He brought his right hand to his ear and snapped his fingers. Nothing. Not a sound. _Why did the third part come so quickly?_ Before Tsuna could curse his luck, an arrow escaped the testing area and headed towards him. Tsuna leaped backwards and narrowly dodged the arrow. However, darkness soon greeted his sight.

The reason? _Great, I'm blind now. If another arrow were to target me, how am I supposed to dodge?_ Tsuna decided to relax himself. It wasn't a good idea to get frustrated over the situation. Tsuna closed his eyes and decided to trust his gut feeling. He did learn that the Vongola's hyper intuition was passed down from generation to generation.

_Left._ Tsuna dodged again and had to thank his lucky stars that he did not experience a blade in his heart. How did he know that it was a blade? He felt the metal blade slightly scrape his arm. He was sure it was bleeding slightly but that didn't matter.

_How am I supposed to stop this test?_ Before he could think up an answer, he felt numb. His entire body felt empty, almost as if it wasn't there. He couldn't move a muscle or even his eyelids. He felt like he no longer had any control over his body; it just felt like he was all mind and no body.

_However, in some extremely rare instances people have reported that they lose the sense of touch._

Tsuna now could honestly say that someone up there hated him. No, in fact, he was sure someone absolutely despised him. Maybe he did something wrong in a previous life? _Now I really hate Reborn._

The smoke cleared and Yamamoto was coughing. His shirt had some rips in it and had been burned along the sleeves. "Wow, that really is some realistic toy," the baseball player said.

"You idiot, those aren't toys! How thick is your skull?" Gokudera scowled as he brushed off the ash on his clothing. "And you were careless! You let a knife head towards Juudaime!"

"Haha, sorry. But he's fine, isn't he?" Yamamoto said. He turned his head to Tsuna's direction and his body froze. "Tsuna?"

Gokudera noticed the baseball player's shock. He turned around and saw that Tsuna was lying on the ground on his back. Sudden panic filled him, and he started sprinting towards his boss. "Juudaime!"

However, a bullet whizzed past his ear and made him stop. Gokudera turned around and saw that Reborn had another weapon out. "Not so fast. The entrance test isn't over yet," Reborn said.

Gokudera ducked as three more bullets came at him. Yamamoto was going to head over to Tsuna but activated a land mine.

Now more smoke filled the area. Gokudera cursed mentally at Yamamoto. It was already hard enough with dodging Reborn's attacks. Now he had to do it with minimal vision. He may as well be blind. Now he knows partly on what Tsuna has to suffer.

Yamamoto regretted stepping on that land mine. It was difficult to see and now he had a bruised back. _Haha, at least I'm still in the game._ Yamamoto's instinct suddenly warned him that something was coming. He ran forward and managed to dodge the onslaught of bullets. However, before he could celebrate, he felt his feet knock down a thin wire. _Uh oh._

More bullets came from the trees this time. Except it was from a machine gun. The baseball player leapt to the right and managed to avoid the straight line of bullets. He thought he was safe, but then he realized something. _Tsuna's there!_

Yamamoto sprinted across the field, ignoring the possibility of land mines and other traps. He was catching up to the bullets but still hadn't managed to escape the smoke. _Wow, that must have been a huge explosion._

Now Yamamoto and the bullets were head to head, and Tsuna was drawing closer to danger. Yamamoto saw a mop of brown hair ahead and raining bullets to his left.

He gathered all the strength he could and leapt ahead to his friend. He grabbed the brunette in his arms and rolled away on the ground. The bullets continued their line, narrowly missing the two. Yamamoto had successfully saved Tsuna.

Then the machine gun stopped. Yamamoto sat up and laid the brunette on the ground. He wiped away the drop of sweat on his forehead when Gokudera rushed over.

As expected, Gokudera immediately went to check if Tsuna was all right. Reborn walked over to Yamamoto's side with a acknowledging smirk.

"For surviving the ten minutes, you both passed. You two are now officially part of Tsuna's Family," Reborn said. Gokudera seemed to lighten up at this but walked over to Yamamoto after he was done making sure Tsuna had no life threatening injuries. He grabbed the front of Yamamoto's collar but something seemed to be different about the bomber.

"Good job," Gokudera said. Yamamoto seemed to be a bit shocked at the words. However, the bomber's next words cleared his shock. "You protected Juudaime, so I have no choice but to admit you into the Family. But the right hand of Juudaime is me. You're the shoulder blade."

"Sh-Shoulder blade?" Yamamoto asked. Then he broke up into laughter as he placed his arm around Gokudera's shoulder. "I thought so from before, but you're a funny guy! But I don't want to withdraw from being Tsuna's right hand. So, you'll be the ear lobe."

Gokudera pulled away from Yamamoto's arm. "What? Then you're nose hair!" Gokudera retorted.

"Then you're snot!" Yamamoto replied with a grin. To him, this was becoming fun. Gokudera, however, didn't think so.

"Why you!" Before Gokudera could bring out his dynamites, Yamamoto interrupted with a compromise.

"Maa maa. Fine, you'll be the right hand, and I'll be the left hand since Tsuna's ambidextrous. Right, Tsuna?" Yamamoto said but realized that Tsuna wasn't in any condition to respond. "Oh, haha. Tsuna must have fallen asleep."

Reborn took out his defibrillators and used them on Tsuna to further prove Yamamoto's assumption. "Looks like Dame-Tsuna lost consciousness. Let's bring him to the nurse's office," Reborn said. Gokudera instantly wrapped an arm around Tsuna and carried him to the nurse. Yamamoto wanted to help but saw Gokudera glare at him. _I did bring Tsuna to the nurse yesterday. Maybe Gokudera wants his turn?_ Yamamoto thought. It didn't occur to him that Gokudera was still competing with him to prove that he was better fit to be Tsuna's right hand man.

Shamal joined them to return to the nurse's office. He didn't want to be around when the teachers saw what happened to the baseball field. Or when Hibari came. Shamal turned to look at Tsuna and shook his head. _The Vongola is very unlucky. There's only 0.0015% chance of losing the sense of_ _touch_.

* * *

Tsuna opened his eyes but had to close them again from the sudden light. He opened his eyes except slowly this time. The ceiling above him was not of his room or any part of his house; it was not from his cabin either. Tsuna looked around the room and had to wait awhile for his mind to process what he was seeing. He was in the nurse's office._  
_

Tsuna brought his hand up and rubbed his eyes. Then he remembered what happened before he fell unconscious. _That stupid test...what happened to it?_

Tsuna sat up slowly and saw that no one was in the room. His school bag was left beside the bed he was in. Tsuna reached into his bag and tried searching for something. When he found it, he brought it out. It was his phone.

Tsuna turned his cell phone on and started to text someone.

_I'm fine. I managed to clear most of the suspicions from Reborn. However, don't call or text me unless it is an emergency. I'll be busy for awhile but don't slack off._

_ -Tsuna_

The brunette sent it to Shoichi and turned off his phone. He placed it back in his bag, and he flopped onto the bed. One day, he would find enough time to get back at Reborn.

* * *

A/N: I hope that this chapter is better than last chapter in any way since I don't think last chapter received a positive response from everyone. However, I decided to rewrite the beginning part of this chapter yesterday and today so I wasn't able to reread everything. I also changed Reborn's and Tsuna's conversation (in the beginning part of the chapter) so I'm sorry if it's rushed. I'm sorry if you find any mistakes but tell me if you do find any since I don't think I'll fix it if no one tells me (I'm kind of lazy).

Well, this chapter is 5619 words; that's longer than the usual 2000 to 3000 words per chapter. I updated later than usual (2 to 3 hours late), but I still managed to update it on time (it's still Thursday for me). A reason why this is a few hours late is that I have been spending time on my laptop (I usually go on my computer). About four months ago, my laptop ran out of energy and did not want to accept any more. I thought I lost all of the fanfics and fanfic ideas on my laptop so I had to start over on my computer. However, today I was able to fix it and now I see all of my once lost writing! I'm so happy! (it's the little things in life that makes me happy... maybe as well as the big things?)

Anyway, I'll hopefully update next Thursday. Oh yeah, one more thing. Thank you to the ones who participated in last week's blackout! Even though I don't know who participated and who didn't, just know that your efforts are appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9 The Scorpion and The Cow

A/N: Thank you GirloftheArts, Lexie-chan94, Mockingjay Rose, Yoshikuni Itoe, BrokenBlackCat, mangopudding, and MissSexyRain for your reviews! Every review is greatly appreciated. Plus, it lets me know that you enjoyed reading the chapter and other helpful advice!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert! It motivates me and reminds me to update on time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 9:

The Scorpion and The Cow

"The answer is seven and negative two," Tsuna said confidently yet cautiously. The smirk on Reborn's face grew wider and that was when the brunet knew to take cover.

"Wrong," Reborn said with a bang. Reborn had been waiting for Tsuna to get a wrong answer since his student had been getting every question correct so far. Tsuna had wanted to get every question correct so that Reborn wouldn't use his TNT. However, he must have done something wrong with his calculations.

"Cough cough. Must I question your teaching style yet again?" Tsuna asked as he tried to fan the smoke away from his face. Reborn was tempted to use the other explosives for every unnecessary comment Tsuna made. However, he decided against it. It wouldn't do well if the floor collapsed, burying the kitchen.

"Let's see what you did wrong. Did you use the quadratic formula?" Reborn asked as he walked over to Tsuna. Tsuna smoothed out his paper that had somehow survived the explosion.

"Of course I did. I even memorized it so that any tutoring that you would do concerning this kind of algebra won't end up like my room," Tsuna replied as he wondered how much money he would have to spend to repair the wall.

"You were careless. You already plugged in the numbers. However, you made a careless mistake. When you plug in the numbers for "-4ac", it results in a negative number; you wrote it down as a positive number. You subtract that from b squared," Reborn explained. Tsuna looked over his work and saw his mistake. Without even needing to write down more work, Tsuna turned to Reborn.

"So you're saying that there was no solution?" Tsuna asked. Reborn nodded his head and hopped off towards the TNT. "And I got this question wrong due to a careless mistake. You wanted me to get this question wrong, didn't you?" Tsuna could see that the infant had lowered his fedora so that it hid his eyes, but his smirk was clearly visible. In a way, this was showing that Reborn was laughing without even doing the act.

"Why would you say that?" Reborn asked as he raised his fedora. The smirk was now annoying Tsuna. It was full of mock laughter although Reborn would never admit that he had enjoyed annoying his student just to see his reaction.

_Ding! Dong!_ The doorbell had cut their lesson short. However, Tsuna was slightly thankful since he could now take a break. The brunet stood up from where he was sitting and tried to walk around the debris that was caused from Reborn's explosion. Before he left, however, Tsuna spoke a warning.

"Don't kill the person at the window. I don't want any bloodstains or bullet holes in the house or yard." Reborn watched his student leave; he would have to test Tsuna's observation skills later. Now to "greet" his guest…

Tsuna walked down the stairs and towards the entrance. His gut feeling or, more appropriately, intuition was telling him to be prepared. So Tsuna checked his pockets to see if his switchblade and gun were there. Good, he didn't have to go back upstairs.

_I told Reborn that I didn't want any bloodstains or bullet holes. Should I be called a hypocrite if I had to use these weapons?_

_Ding! Dong!_ Apparently Tsuna made the person at the door wait long enough. The brunet looked through the peephole before opening the door. What awaited his sights was a seventeen-year-old female with long pink hair and emerald green eyes. She had a pizza box with a scorpion sign on it that matched the tattoo on her left upper arm.

Tsuna did not need his intuition to know that this person was from the Mafia. This was Poison Scorpion Bianchi, and he set his eyes on the pizza box. Well, a knife and gun won't help as much as _that_. Thankfully he brought _that_.

"Italian pizza delivery! A delivery of Vongola pizza," the female said. Then suddenly she brought a gas mask to her face and opened the box. The fumes from the pizza spilled out towards Tsuna with the purpose of choking him.

However, Tsuna was lucky he accidentally brought _that_. He brought out a bottle from his pocket and opened it. Then he spilled the liquid content onto the pizza.

Immediately, the fumes disappeared; Tsuna smirked inwardly to himself. Shoichi was such a good friend. After an accident where Tsuna's food was poisoned, Shoichi had spent countless months researching poison and making an antidote that would counteract most poisons.

Bianchi frowned and discarded the pizza. Soon she brought out two cakes that were purple, bubbling, sizzling, and other things that said, "Poison". _Where did she get the cakes?_

Bianchi charged forward and threw the two cakes at Tsuna. The brunet took a step backward before dodging to the left. The cakes landed on the floor and ate away at the wood and carpet.

_Well, now is as good a time as any to fight back,_ Tsuna thought. He ran into the living room, and Bianchi followed. She brought out a sickly looking soup and an equally disgusting looking sandwich. She spotted Tsuna trying to escape through another door that lead to the yard. However, he was not fast enough to escape her cooking.

Just as she was about to throw the food, she was forced to drop it onto the floor. Her arms were bound behind her back and a gun was pressed into her head. "I'd start explaining if I were you," Tsuna said calmly.

Bianchi glared as she felt the gun digging deeper in the back of her head. "How did you get behind me? You were by the door."

"It's called an illusion," Tsuna answered. "Now answer my question. Why are you trying to kill me?"

Before Bianchi got a chance to explain, something flew down the stairs and tackled into Tsuna. The brunet dropped his gun and released his hold on Bianchi's hands by accident as he fell towards the ground. His head hit the floor quickly and unexpectedly.

Bianchi was about to turn around and finish Tsuna off when she heard a voice. "Ciaossu Bianchi."

The girl turned towards the stairs, and her eyes lit up. "Reborn, I'm here to bring you back. Let's do another big job together. A peaceful place doesn't suit you. The place you should be is the dark world where it's more dangerous and thrilling," Bianchi said.

Reborn looked at her and said in an innocent voice, "I told you, Bianchi. I have a job to raise Tsuna, so I can't." Tsuna would have glared at Reborn for his acting, but he was dizzy. Whatever hit him made him become dazed. Not only that, he thought he was hearing things; there was a faint wailing noise, and no one would be wailing out of the people here.

"Poor Reborn. Unless the Juudaime dies due to an accident or something, Reborn won't be free again," Bianchi said with tears flowing down her face. In the back of Tsuna's mind, the brunet thought, _I knew that sooner or later I would be targeted because of Reborn. It's hard not to be a target when you're the student of the world's best hitman, even if you're unwilling to be the student._ "I'll go home for now. When the Juudaime is murd- when the Juudaime is dead, I'll come to bring you back again..."

Bianchi walked out of the house and closed the door. Just like that, she was gone. Tsuna continued to lie on the floor. He was sure he was hearing things; there was no way this crying noise was coming from Reborn... unless it wasn't Reborn in the first place.

Tsuna groggily tilted his head to the left to see a child. _That must have been the person at the window._ The child was wearing clothing to make the child look like a cow. He also had an Afro and was crying endless tears with snot coming out of his nose. Oh joy, now there was someone else to deal with.

Reborn hopped onto Tsuna's chest and looked at Tsuna's unfocused eyes. If the cow-child did this to Tsuna with just that blow, maybe he should have Tsuna get used to the feeling of getting hit in the head? Reborn was tempted to have Leon transform into a mallet but resisted his urge. There would be a time and place for everything.

"Babysit him for the rest of the day if you want the tutoring to stop today," Reborn said. It took a minute for Tsuna to process this information. It took Tsuna another minute to believe this.

Reborn smirked at seeing his student unresponsive. There was a time and place for everything. Looks like that time and place was here and now. Reborn had Leon transform into a mallet, and the hitman brought the weapon onto Tsuna's head. This immediately knocked the brunet out.

It's too bad for Tsuna that two minutes was enough time for Reborn to decide these types of things. Now for the cow-child...

* * *

Tsuna felt a cool liquid dab onto his head. It felt refreshing, and Tsuna savored the peace. He felt more cold water touch his arms and legs as well as his back. It was so peaceful that it started to scare Tsuna.

After fighting the internal battle of choosing to sleep or to open his eyes, Tsuna chose the latter. He opened his caramel eyes but squinted as the light suddenly came in his vision. After his eyes were focused, he saw that above him was the sky. Sitting up, he looked around. There was an ocean and sand surrounding him. He brought up his arm to check the time; luckily the watch was waterproof. The time was three twenty-four.

Tsuna massaged his temple; what was he doing before? Oh yeah, that's right. Bianchi had tried to kill him in hopes of freeing Reborn and something hit him. The thing that hit him was a child dressed similarly to a cow. Where was the child?

Faintly, Tsuna heard a sound. "Hmm. Hmm." Turning his head to the right, Tsuna saw the cow-child... with tape over his mouth and rope binding his limbs together.

Scrambling to his feet, Tsuna walked over to the child who had large frightened eyes. Looking closely, the brunet could see that the child was trying to move away from him.

Tsuna sighed; Reborn already scarred this child. Not only that, Reborn made the child also afraid of Tsuna. _Just because I have that demon as a tutor, misunderstandings like these have to become inevitable._

Tsuna tried to speak as softly as he could. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. I'm nothing like Reborn." _Nor do I want to be. _The cow-child stopped his attempts to move away from Tsuna but sat frozen. Tsuna took another step towards the child. "I only want to help you out of the tape and rope. I know how sadistic Reborn can be."

The child looked up at Tsuna with confused and curious eyes. Tsuna bent down and started to untie the child. When the ropes were off, he took off the tape as gently as he could.

"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. If I may ask, who are you?" Tsuna asked. He did not want to scare this child any further. He would get back at Reborn some day. _I have been thinking that a lot lately._

"I am Lambo-san, a hitman from the Bovino Famiglia. Favorite foods are grapes and candy," the child said. Tsuna relaxed as he saw that the child was no longer afraid of him. However, there was the information that this child was from the Mafia. But that shouldn't be surprising; Lambo was the one who was at the window.

"Lambo, do you know how we got here?" Tsuna couldn't help but ask. Lambo shook his head; so it seems that Reborn also knocked Lambo out.

"Are we going to go back?" Lambo asked with his eyes fixed on Tsuna. The brunet looked around to make sure he was certain where they were.

"Yeah, I know the way back," Tsuna answered. "I'll bring you back to your home. Where do you live?"

"Lambo-san lives in Italy. Lambo-san came to Japan when my Boss told me to defeat the super first-class hitman, Reborn," Lambo said. _In other words, he has nowhere to live._

"Well, I can bring you to my house in the meantime," Tsuna offered. Apparently this brought about a bad reaction. Tears welled up in Lambo's eyes and overflowed. Snot started to come out of his nose. _Reborn must have really scarred Lambo._ "Shh. Shh. It's fine."

Tsuna picked up Lambo and did what he remembered what his mother did when he was younger. He cradled Lambo in his arms and let the child cry and cling on him. He was going to have to change after he got back home.

"I'll try to stop Reborn from bullying you. Everything is going to be fine," Tsuna said. His intuition told him something so as an afterthought he said, "For today, I won't leave you alone."

The crying seemed to lessen, but Lambo held on as tightly as before. "Promise?" Lambo asked through his tears.

Tsuna looked down at Lambo and began to think over the things he said. Then with a soothing tone, he answered, "I promise." That got Lambo to calm down considerably. In the back of Tsuna's mind, he was wondering why he was making so many promises.

Slowly, Tsuna began walking out of Namimori beach. He didn't mind the tears that were being pressed into his clothing. His clothes were already wet from the ocean.

Tsuna began to hum a random tune. He had heard Chrome listening to the song he was humming to. Apparently the girl would sometimes stand beside the music shop to listen to a song being played at exactly five o' clock. She had loved the song coming from the music box. Actually, many people had. That was why the music box was so expensive. Tsuna had been saving all of his money to buy the box. Then on Chrome's birthday, he gave it to her. The expression on her face was priceless.

After an hour, Lambo had calmed down, and Tsuna had arrived in town; he was on the opposite side of where he lived in Namimori. That also meant another thing. Shoichi's house was nearby.

Smiling to himself, Tsuna walked to the place he knew he was always welcomed. It wouldn't hurt if he visited Shoichi especially since he had texted the redhead a week ago saying that Reborn was his tutor. Lambo looked up at Tsuna, wondering where they were going. Lambo had been lost plenty of times in Namimori before meeting Tsuna to know where things were. The child knew that Tsuna's house was not in this direction.

Silently, Tsuna wondered what happened to Bianchi. He doubted that she would stop trying to kill him when she left with the words "When the Juudaime is murd- when the Juudaime is dead, I'll come to bring you back again..."

Then his smile became strained. This week was too chaotic, much too chaotic to be coincidental. On Monday, Tsuna met Reborn; Tuesday was when he met Gokudera. Wednesday was the encounter with Mochida; Thursday was the meeting with Yamamoto. Friday was Yamamoto's suicide attempt, and Saturday was the Family Entrance Test. Today was Sunday, and now both Lambo and Bianchi came.

From what he could tell, Bianchi would come chasing after Reborn once she knew where the hitman was. Lambo was here on orders from his Boss; the orders could only exist from information found, and Reborn might have leaked some. And Gokudera came when Reborn had called him over.

So far, Tsuna could guess that Reborn called Gokudera before Monday to tell the bomber to come to Namimori. Then Reborn pulled some strings to get Mochida to question Tsuna's relation to Kyoko, thus resulting in a fight. The incident with Yamamoto might have been coincidence, but Yamamoto only went to Tsuna for help since Tsuna had beaten Mochida. Saturday was all part of Reborn's plan. Then Reborn might have purposely leaked some information on his whereabouts so that Bianchi and Lambo could have come. In conclusion, Tsuna was sure that Reborn was responsible for making him meet everyone this week.

Before he knew it, Tsuna was already in front of Shoichi's house. The brunet knocked three times on the door and waited. After about thirty seconds, the door opened to reveal a messy redhead with glasses and green eyes. The green eyes widened upon seeing the wet brunet. Tsuna could only reply with a feeble smile.

"Nice to see that you're doing well Shoichi-kun," Tsuna began. "If possible, may I stay over for the rest of today?" Shoichi seemed to snap out of his staring as he opened the door wider.

"Of course. Come in. I'll get you a change of clothes. You can take a shower in the meantime," Shoichi said. Tsuna nodded his head in thanks and stepped inside the house. Tsuna had been here a lot of times before. This place was often used for the meeting location that Shoichi, Chrome, Mukuro, Ken, Chikusa, and he went to. Now that he thought about it, when was the last time they had a meeting? Two months ago? Maybe even three?

Tsuna had already taken off his shoes and headed towards Shoichi's room. There he would put Lambo and take the shower in the redhead's bathroom. However, things did not go as smoothly as he planned when Lambo refused to part with Tsuna.

"Lambo, you have to stay here. I have to take a shower," Tsuna said as he tried to pry Lambo off his arms. The cow-child resisted.

"No! You promised!" Lambo yelled back. Tsuna only sighed in return. He knew that he shouldn't have promised.

"It looks like you're having trouble," Shoichi said as he saw the situation. Tsuna only shook his head tiredly. Shoichi didn't know how true that statement was when applied to his week.

"Lambo, this is Irie Shoichi. Shoichi-kun, this is Lambo. He's from the Bovino Family," Tsuna introduced. Lambo stopped having a death-grip on Tsuna and looked at Shoichi. The redhead waved back shyly. "Shoichi-kun, can you get something for Lambo to eat? He likes grapes and candy so try your best."

Lambo's eyes sparkled as his hold on Tsuna disappeared. Then he ran off past Shoichi, who stumbled backwards since he thought the child would tackle him, and towards the kitchen. All the while chanting, "Candy! Candy!"

Tsuna's eyes showed an apology to the redhead. Shoichi turned around and rushed after Lambo, not wanting the child to destroy his house. Once Shoichi was out of the room, Tsuna allowed a smile to come onto his face. _Sorry Shoichi-kun. It looks like Lambo will be your charge for awhile._

Just this morning, Tsuna had met Bianchi who was, and still is, trying to kill him. Then Lambo just took off to look for candy. Maybe this will be Tsuna's new definition of peace now that it has been about a week since Reborn came.

Tsuna looked at his clothes once more; it was dripping wet. _Better not stand here any longer. I better take a shower before I can help pay for all the food Lambo ate as well as the ruined carpet._

Then Tsuna did just that although he felt a sense of foreboding fill his body.

* * *

The cell phone was moving constantly in his tiny hand due to its rhythmic vibrations. The caller was someone unfamiliar to him yet he did not dare to answer it. It wasn't even his phone; it was his student's who was careless in putting away his personal things. The phone vibrated one last time before abruptly stopping. Whoever it was absolutely needed to talk to Tsuna since this process already repeated five times.

Then there was a message sent to the phone. Curiously, the infant read the message, wondering what connection his student had. However, he put the phone in his jacket a few seconds later. He had to greet his guest.

"Reborn, what did you want to talk to me about?" Bianchi asked once she sat down in front of the low table in Tsuna's room with the said infant sitting across from her. "Did you want to talk about the Juudamie?"

"Yes. You know that killing the only heir to Vongola is suicidal. You will be hunted down as a traitor, and the person to do that might be me," Reborn said with his fedora worn low over his eyes. "However, I would like to ask you for two favors."

"You can ask me anything," the longhaired woman asked with her attention solely focused on Reborn. It wasn't that she was paying strict attention since she had feelings for the hitman. It was because it wasn't often that Reborn asked for a favor and definitely rare to ask for two that she was paying attention.

"I want you to be Tsuna's other tutor. Train him with cooking and other arts. If you do, you can stay here in this house along with me," Reborn said. In the Mafia world, you had to be careful with any offer given to you; you had to make sure it didn't provide you with catastrophic disadvantages. However, right now between the two people in the room, there was no need to think and question everything about the offer. For Bianchi, she knew that Reborn wouldn't try to harm her unless it was necessary. So she gave him her reply.

"Alright. However, I won't go easy on training him with poison," Bianchi said. Reborn nodded.

"Next, I want you to follow Tsuna for today. Tsuna has been hiding a lot of things from me, but he confessed that he was already involved in the Mafia since he was young. He still has a lot more to hide like his subordinates and what he did during that time. He left his cell phone here, and there was a phone call along with an urgent message from one of his mysterious subordinates. I have a feeling he will receive contact from the caller and meet up with whoever it is. I want you to follow him," Reborn told Bianchi his second request.

Bianchi pondered over the second favor before accepting; the Vongola Juudaime had a lot of secrets to hide, and she'll try to find out as much as possible for Reborn. It was the least she could do.

"I'll go and find him right now. Wait here my love," Bianchi said as she left the room. Reborn took out Tsuna's phone, and his onyx eyes stared at it.

Almost a week had passed and Tsuna did not seem to be deeply involved in the Mafia. He was still sane and not a cruel and not an apathetic person so it was safe to assume that he did not participate in too much killing. Being in the Mafia since seven years of age would do some devastating things to a child. Being in the Mafia since seven years of age would cause someone to do a lot and have many secrets. Reborn was only told the beginning of Tsuna's journey into the Mafia and nothing more. Not only that, Reborn still had a lot of questions.

For example, in the first interrogation of Tsuna, what did the brunet mean by "interests"? Without the Mafia, Tsuna would be doing nothing extra at school or at home. So the answer lies within the Mafia, but what could it be?

Then with the second interrogation, what did Tsuna's reaction possibly mean? The sudden but controlled widening of both eyes at the mention of people's lives could lead to different conclusions. The lives of people could refer to the general public or perhaps someone close to the brunet. It could mean the death of someone or some people. It could mean the disappearance of someone or some people. Perhaps Tsuna was just surprised at the question although Reborn doubted it. Whatever Tsuna was planning, Reborn would find out.

_Not only that, the mix of orange was added to his brown eyes before. What could that mean?_

Leon suddenly turned into a green phone that suddenly rang in the silent room. Reborn pressed a single button and placed the phone by his ear. "Vongola Nono, you sound stressed. Is there something wrong in Italy?" Reborn asked. After a long silence on Reborn's part as he listened to the Ninth boss, he tilted his fedora forward to hide his expression, but there was a frown. "I understand. However, I think it's best if we do not tell Tsuna the news."

* * *

_Ring! Ring!_

"Tsunayoshi-kun, can you get that?" Shoichi asked as he tried to catch Lambo who was playing tag with the redhead although Shoichi didn't consider it as a game with his mother's vase in the cow-child's possession.

"Okay," Tsuna replied as he stopped drying his hair with the towel. The clothing Shoichi let the brunet borrow fit him; it was a plain t-shirt with grey pants. Shoichi had said it was an old present from his sister that he never wore.

Tsuna left the towel around his neck and walked towards the phone in the living room. The sense of foreboding in him had suddenly grown into an overpowering feeling. "Hello? This is-"

A voice interrupted on the other side of the line. The words came clearly and too quickly. The phone slipped out of Tsuna's hold and onto the floor. His eyes had widened considerably so that it looked impossible.

"Mukuro..."

* * *

A/N: I just had to add in the algebra part in the beginning with the quadratic formula. That just brings so many 8th grade memories to me. The algebra part actually happened to me where I spent so much work to find the answer only to find out that there was no real solution. I'm glad I didn't have Reborn as a tutor at that time or else I would face his TNT.

Yesterday was the blackout so thank you to the ones who participated! The letter I wrote hasn't been deleted yet, surprisingly, so you can read it if you want to just pass the time since that's what I do.


	10. Chapter 10 Death Reaper Makes Its Move

A/N: Thank you Lexie-chan94, Yuu3, BrokenBlackCat, Yoshikuni Itoe, saphire644, and MissSexyRain for your reviews!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert (although it's now changed to follow)! Oh, and thank you to the ones who put me as their favorite author/ author alert!

So chapter ten is now dedicated to the ones I thanked plus those who enjoy reading this story and is not mentioned directly or indirectly above.

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 10:

The Death Reaper Makes Its Move

"Boss, is that you? Please come over quickly! Mukuro-sama is dying!"

Tsuna's face grew deathly pale. He stood frozen with his hand still positioned in the air. His mind became blank with shock.

"Mukuro..." Tsuna mumbled. A few quiet footsteps approached the brunet with Lambo in his arms.

"Tsunayoshi-kun, who was it?" Shoichi asked, feeling the atmosphere change. Currently, he could not see Tsuna's expression and only saw the brunet's back. However, he saw the slight flinch responding to his voice. In a slow process, Tsuna crouched down and picked up the phone.

"Chrome, I'm coming over. I'll bring Shoichi-kun along with me. Just try to hold on until we get there. Can you do that?" Tsuna asked in a low and serious voice. Shoichi was confused but knew that it was best to place Lambo somewhere. "Shoichi-kun, can you get the first-aid kit and some towels?"

Shoichi nodded his head although Tsuna couldn't see him. However, Tsuna didn't need to since he knew Shoichi would do it. This wasn't time for jokes or games.

"Chrome, calm down. Can you hold your own until we get there?" Tsuna asked once more with his voice still the same.

"I-I don't know what's happening to him. I don't know how-"

"Chrome, trust me. I will never let him die. Besides, he's too strong and too stubborn," Tsuna interrupted. He could not leave the phone if Chrome didn't answer. He could not leave if Chrome couldn't hold her own to help Mukuro survive. "So can you do it?"

"Y-yes," Chrome said through a sob. She took a deep breath and repeated in a more confident tone, "Yes."

Tsuna smiled a little although it looked more like just the corners of his lips were slightly lifted. "We'll be coming soon. I'll see you then." Without waiting to hear her response, Tsuna hung up the phone. His face darkened, only for his eyes to be blocked by his bangs while his hand lingered on the phone.

Lifting his hand away and raising his head, he turned around just in time to see Shoichi come back with the requested items. It was until both of them left the house and rushed over to Kokuyo Land did Tsuna start explaining.

* * *

Chrome clutched the phone in semblance of a prayer as tears trickled down her face. She tried to stop her sobs as she took in deep breaths. How did this happen? How could this happen?

Chrome felt her legs wobble as she tried to walk towards Mukuro once more. Her arms shook as her grip on the phone tightened. Everything happened so suddenly. Red had suddenly colored her sights when Mukuro coughed out blood. She shook her head.

_No. I have to be brave for Mukuro-sama and Boss' sake._

Chrome walked unsteadily towards Mukuro as she could vaguely hear the words coming from Ken and Chikusa. With Mukuro's eyes closed, it made him look like he was sleeping and was just having a nightmare with his scrunched up face. Except the paleness of his face along with sweat and blood made it not look like he was having a nightmare.

Or, if she got her hopes up, this was the nightmare. That this was the horrid dream of what could happen at any second in the real world. This was the nightmare that played a cruel trick on her.

* * *

From her view, she could see that the two were in some sort of rush. Whatever it was, she didn't know. However, she did know that it must be extremely important.

Bianchi followed closely behind from atop roofs. She ran and jumped to the next one as her eyes locked onto Tsuna's form. She noticed the beads of sweat that trailed down his face with his breath ragged. If she didn't know better, she would have thought that Tsuna lacked stamina. However, from their interaction that morning, she knew better.

Also, if the paleness of his face wasn't making things obvious, she didn't know what would. Something had caused the brunet to become frightened. Maybe he was running away from it or perhaps he's running towards it?

_This is the perfect time to murder him._ Bianchi leapt across to another roof. _But I promised Reborn so I can't unless I find another way._

_"You will be hunted down as a traitor, and the person to do that might be me."_ Bianchi shook the thought out of her head. Until she found a way around the promise and around the Vongola, she will look for a way to free Reborn.

* * *

Reborn dialed the green phone a number that he knew too well. He placed the object by his ear as he waited for the person to pick up. Once the person did, he went straight to business.

"Ciaossu Dino. This is Reborn. As you already know, I am training Vongola Tenth candidate, Sawada Tsunayoshi. As a part of his training, I want you to come to Namimori, Japan."

* * *

Tsuna continued running, not turning around to see if Shoichi was still behind him. How could Mukuro be so injured? He knew how strong Mukuro was but to hear those words from Chrome along with the sound of her voice was too much.

"Who did this? Who was the one who did that to Mukuro?"

* * *

"So word already reached you? Then that makes things easier to explain. Whoever attacked the Varia would most likely target CEDEF or the main branch of Vongola. It could be either Nono or Tsuna. No one knows who the culprit is or what the motive is," Reborn continued.

Dino was left to process this information. It would make sense that Tsuna or Nono would be targeted or anyone in the Vongola for that matter. No one knew anything about the culprit. No one knew when the attack began or when it ended. The main six members of the Varia were left alive. However, they were left in a coma. The lower ranked Varia members weren't so lucky. Many of them were killed; others lived but ended up unconscious.

The cameras were destroyed. Even with the little footage they were able to save, it showed nothing unusual happening. The same footage had ended about an hour before anyone found out about the attack. It could be that about an hour before someone found the members in the Varia mansion slaughtered the attack began. Or perhaps that hour could be when the attack ended. No one knew.

* * *

_"Mukuro-sama is dying! I-I don't know what happened to him. H-He was reading a book one second and then he collapsed! H-He coughed out blood and injuries started to appear. I don't know how! I-I don't know..."_

Tsuna clenched his teeth. He could remember a time before when something like this happened, except the injuries were less life threatening. It was when Mukuro possessed someone and that person fell. He received the same scrape on the knee on his real body. This was the same thing except on a larger scale.

* * *

"I don't know if I can go over to Namimori right now. The Cavallone Family has been involved in the incident as well. Three of our members were on their way to the Varia, and they were all killed. I'm trying my best over here so I won't be able to come immediately. However, I'll try to make arrangements. I don't want my little brother getting injured," Dino answered.

"All right. When you get here, I better not be seeing that my training was wasted," Reborn replied. Dino could imagine the horrors Reborn would do if Dino did not live up to his expectations. What would Reborn do this time? Surely he wouldn't make him train with Tsuna. He already had enough Spartan training that would last a lifetime.

"I won't let you down," Dino said although he didn't sound confident. He had to remind himself to bring Romario along. It wouldn't do well if he tripped in front of Reborn the second they meet.

* * *

_Mukuro, you better hold on. We'll be coming soon._

Tsuna rushed through Kokuyo Land with Shoichi behind him. He ignored the dilapidated buildings to his left and right and only kept his eyes set onto the building he knew too well, onto the building where Mukuro was dying.

Just a few more meters until they reached the entrance. Just a few more meters until they can help. Just a few more meters until they know that Mukuro is still alive. Five meters. Four meters. Three meters. Two meters. One...

"Mukuro! Chrome! Ken! Chikusa!" Tsuna called out once the doors were slammed opened. He ran inside while he turned his head in all directions to try to find them. "Tell me where you are!"

Tsuna stopped in his search so he could listen to any response. He panted in the silence as he brushed off with sweat lining his forehead. _Please don't let us be too late. Please let someone respond. Please..._

"Boss! Over here!" It was Chrome's voice. It was the loudest Tsuna ever heard from her, but he wouldn't think about that now. He took off sprinting towards where he heard her voice. He took off sprinting without looking back to Shoichi. He had to see if Mukuro was still alive. He had to see Mukuro's condition for himself. He had to see if everyone was fine. He had to see them with his own eyes.

"Chrome!" Tsuna almost crashed into her if he had not stopped in time. He took a step back to look at her; she looked horrible. Her visible eye was red and puffy. There were endless tears streaming down her face while she tried to suppress her sobs. Both her arms and legs were shaking, and she was still holding onto the cell phone.

"Boss, go help Mukuro-sama. He's over there on the couch," Chrome said as she pointed weakly to her left. Tsuna turned his head to that direction and immediately took off again.

He did not get to see Mukuro's face since Ken and Chikusa were crowding around the illusionist. However, he heard the desperate pleas of Ken and saw the trembling hand of Chikusa.

As he drew closer to the couch, Tsuna could see Mukuro. Tsuna could see the deathly pale face and the tightly shut eyes that hid the sometimes threatening and sometimes relaxing red and blue. Tsuna could see the sweat that traveled down his face and soaked the ripped cloth of the couch. Tsuna could smell the blood that tainted the sides of his mouth as well as inside it. Tsuna could smell the metal that was painting the arms of the illusionist as well as the makeshift bandages that was bleeding through.

Tsuna could almost sense death approaching.

He knelt down next to the couch and held Mukuro's hands. They were so cold. They were so lifeless. These hands used to be the ones that held onto the trident that had threatened the brunet. At times like those, Mukuro's eyes were visible with a mocking smile to complement it. They were not full of blood. They were not so cold.

"Tsunayoshi..." Tsuna's head shot up and watched the illusionist's face, waiting for the moment his mouth moved or when those eyes opened. "It's a shame that you had to see me again in this condition."

"Mukuro, you can't die yet! You can't give up!" Tsuna yelled as he tightened his hold on Mukuro's hands, hoping to transfer some of his heat so that Mukuro's hands won't feel so cold and so lifeless.

"Oya oya. Who says I'm giving up? I'm not going to die yet. Not before I win in one of our battles," Mukuro said before tiredly opening his blue eye. Tsuna looked at Mukuro's face and saw blood slowly pouring out of his red eye.

The brunet turned his head around and yelled, "Shoichi! Give me the first-aid kit!" Then he turned his head around to face Mukuro. There was still that mocking smirk on his face except it looked too forced. It looked to worn, too tired. It looked too lifeless.

"Here, Tsunayoshi-kun!" Shoichi said as he handed the brunet the kit. Apparently, the redhead had just gotten there. Even so, he still had a lot more to do.

"Shoichi, moisten the towels for me. Chrome, show him the way," Tsuna said although he didn't need to. The two were already on their way to accomplish the task. Tsuna opened the kit and fumbled with the bandages as he tried to take them out. First he had to stop the bleeding, but there was so much blood. Not only that, but it looked like some of the injuries may be internal. Plus it didn't seem like he had that much time before the worst happened: death.

A hand landed on top of Tsuna's own trembling hands. It belonged to Mukuro. "You know what to do. You just have to think. That's why everyone followed you. If you don't, I'll see you in hell," Mukuro said. Slowly his blue eye began to close and his mouth closed one last time.

Tsuna dropped the bandages and clasped his hands onto Mukuro's hand. Time was not on his side. Time was always like this. Time was always sadistic towards him. Time was always so short. Now Mukuro's time was slowly coming to an end.

"No Mukuro. You can't die. No one else has to die because of me," Tsuna said quietly through his tearing face. He brought one of his arms to wipe away at his eyes. Now was not the time to cry. Now was not the time to mourn. Now was the time to think. Now was the time to find a way to save Mukuro.

_But how? These injuries are not something that can be dealt using first-aid, and the most threatening of injuries is internal. The medics won't come in time. So how?_

Tsuna looked through the first-aid kit with his trembling hands while occasionally dropping the items he picked up. It was futile; he couldn't save Mukuro. He couldn't think of anything that would save him. There was nothing he could do. Nothing.

"The only way to save Mukuro-sama is if we quickly heal his internal injuries with what we have," Chikusa said as he looked once more at Mukuro. _I know that. But what do we even have?_

* * *

"Mukuro just collapsed?" Shoichi asked as he moistened the towels using the water from the well. Chrome nodded her head as she nervously looked at the way they came. Within the moments Chrome and Shoichi were gone, could Mukuro have died?

_No, Boss said that he wouldn't let Mukuro-sama die. Boss will save Mukuro-sama._

"I'm done," the redhead said. He handed Chrome two moist towels to carry while he carried the other two. "Do you think Tsunayoshi-kun will be able to do it?"

Chrome nodded her head, not trusting her voice. She was holding onto the only hope left; she was trusting Tsuna with everything she had. The only one who was able to save Mukuro was Tsuna. She believed that.

"B-Boss has done things considered as miracles before. He will be able to produce another miracle and save Mukuro-sama," Chrome spoke softly once she had control over herself. Those words were her lifeline. Those words were her belief. Those words gave her the hope to continue to do anything to help her Boss accomplish another miracle.

"Yeah. The last miracle he made was finding out about those flames," Shoichi said. Then he paused in his steps, which caught Chrome's attention. The illusionist watched as realization flashed through the redhead's eyes. She took a step towards him and was about to shake him back to reality when Shoichi spoke again. "The flames! That's it! We have to hurry back; I have an idea!"

Shoichi took off with Chrome following close behind. Another spark of hope appeared right before her. Whatever Shoichi realized, it should help her Boss produce a miracle. After all, she knew that everyone meeting one another was a miracle in itself.

"Tsunayoshi-kun! I know a way to save Mukuro!" Shoichi called out as he stumbled into the room where everyone else was. Tsuna jerked his head around and saw that the redhead was out of breath. Ken raced over to Shoichi and pulled him up to his feet.

"What did you find out byon! Spit it out!" Ken shouted while pulling Shoichi towards the couch by the collar of his shirt. Tsuna stood up and pulled Ken's hand away. Then he placed both hands of his hands onto Shoichi's shoulders and looked seriously at his eyes.

"Shoichi, tell us what you found out," Tsuna asked with that tone of voice that made no room to disobey or to joke around. Shoichi knew he couldn't blame Tsuna since everyone was becoming desperate to find a way to not let the illusionist die.

"The flames and the ring... they can be used... to heal... Mukuro," Shoichi said as he panted heavily while trying to ignore the stomachache that was soon to come. Tsuna's eyes widened once more. Why couldn't he have thought of that sooner?

Tsuna released his hold on Shoichi's shoulders and turned to face Ken. "Not all flames are the same. Ken, yours is the one best suited to heal. I'll give you my ring so that it'll be easier to summon and control your flame," Tsuna said. Ken hurried over to the brunet who was taking off his ring. _Hopefully this will work in time._

Chrome just entered the room, clutching the moist towels as she took in the sight of what was happening. Realization dawned on her when she noticed the ring being worn on Ken's finger. However, that realization turned into confusion when moments passed and nothing happened.

"Arg, why isn't this working byon!" Ken said in exasperation. He gritted his teeth and concentrated on the ring but nothing appeared. "What is wrong with this?"

Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows; the ring should work. He used it when he was fighting against Gokudera. Besides, this ring was the prototype, which meant that anyone could use it and not just him.

Chrome watched Ken's attempts to light the ring; all of them came out unsuccessful. She stepped towards them, eyes concentrating on the ring. What was it that she discovered before? It had to do with igniting the ring, but what was it? She saw Tsuna's worried face that started to lose hope. But that hopelessness only appeared on his face for a second, only to be replaced by determination.

Determination.

It finally clicked in her mind as her pace started to speed up. Now she was rushing over to them. "Boss! I know how to light the ring!" Everyone turned their gazes over to her. Chrome ignored the attention and looked at her Boss' face. His face already held the answer although he didn't realize it. Chrome took a deep breath before continuing. "Whenever I try to produce the flames, I think about what I'm determined to do."

Tsuna took in the information. Determination. That's an easy thing to figure out right now. What the ring is for... what all of them want to do... it's to save Mukuro. It's to save the one that no matter how terrifying, mischievous, and sometimes annoying would always be on their side as their friend.

The ring suddenly was encased in yellow flames. The flames shined and danced in the dark room, gaining strict attention to how it grew. The silence was only broken once someone spoke.

"Ken, heal Mukuro," Chikusa reminded. His voice seemed to break everyone's trance but didn't allow the ring's flame to disappear. Ken hurried over to where Mukuro was with the flame growing larger every passing second.

The flame did not look like it was going to disappear anytime soon. The flame did not look weak or fragile. It danced boldly in the limited lighting of the room, proving to be something like a sun that lit up the whole place.

Tsuna began to sigh in relief. The prototype didn't break yet; he was afraid that with the intensity of Ken's flames, the ring would break. He was afraid that the ring would be too weak to last this long. The good side was that this ring accepted anyone's flames. The downside was that it would break easily if the flame was too strong.

The brunet could feel an unknown weight being lifted off his shoulders as he watched Ken's flames wrap around Mukuro. He could feel his muscles starting to relax as he watched as the outside injuries were healing. He could feel his breathing going back to normal as he watched the pained expression on Mukuro's face disappear into a calm one.

The color returned to Mukuro's face although Chrome noticed the same being applied to Tsuna. Chrome smiled sadly at her Boss; whenever people's lives were involved, she noticed that he would react a bit extremely although she didn't know why. It didn't matter if it was someone the brunet knew or if it was a complete stranger; Tsuna would do whatever he could to save the person. He never explained to them why there would be such a desperate look on his face, but Mukuro had told them not to pursue the matter. Mukuro was serious when he said that with no trace of his mocking laughter or smile and that was rare.

"How is he?" Chrome snapped out of her musings and looked at the owner of the voice. Tsuna watched Chikusa checking for the illusionist's pulse and breathing. The flames still encased Mukuro with Ken standing firm; Tsuna could tell that this was starting to tire Ken.

"His pulse is getting stronger, and his breathing has stabilized for now," Chikusa replied whilst grabbing one of the towels from Shoichi. The redhead flinched since he had been paying attention to Ken's flames. "Ken, don't stop the flames."

"Do I look tired to you?" Ken shouted back as the flames increased.

"Yes." Apparently their argument strengthened Ken's determination. Chrome smiled at them but that smile soon became full of worry as she glanced over at Tsuna. The brunet looked to be lost in thought, not even hearing Ken and Chikusa's argument. He didn't seem to register what was happening around him.

"Boss," Chrome said to gather the brunet's attention. Tsuna turned to look at her, effectively hiding the startled expression he wore less than a second before when he was brought out of his thoughts. "You should take a break."

"Eh? I'm fine," Tsuna said, noticing the concerned look in Chrome's eye. "Besides, what will happen if Mukuro's condition worsens?"

Chrome shook her head. She knew that if she didn't insist in this matter, Tsuna would probably stay in this room until Mukuro woke up, which wasn't anytime soon. He'll probably pass out from exhaustion.

"If Mukuro-sama's condition worsens, I'll tell you. Boss, you should really go outside and take a break. We'll be able to handle it from here on," Chrome said. She gently pushed Tsuna to the direction of the exit although she didn't see Tsuna's expression darken.

"Don't worry, Tsunayoshi-kun. If something happens, we'll call you. Go home and rest," Shoichi tried to reassure the brunet. Apparently, Shoichi and Chikusa were replacing the makeshift bandages with real ones and wiping away the illusionist's blood with the towels.

At first, Tsuna responded with an "I see" causing a spark of worry to appear in the redhead. However, Tsuna turned around and gave him a small smile. "I'll go home for now. But if anything happens, call me. Understand?"

"Yes, Boss," Chrome replied while gently pushing Tsuna closer to the exit. At times like these, Chrome would secretly compare Tsuna to a mothering hen. If he didn't leave now, he'll get the idea of staying over for the night.

Chrome watched the retreating figure of her Boss. They all knew that Tsuna was probably the one worried the most although he's the only one to threaten Mukuro. It was for the best that Tsuna left for the night.

Tsuna continued his walk out of the building. Time had passed so quickly that the sun was already setting. He shielded his eyes with his hand at the sudden brightness but soon enough his eyes adjusted.

Tsuna knew not to think too much about it, but he couldn't help it. In this whole entire thing, he'd been useless. He tried his best to control the situation and to keep everyone calm even though he himself wasn't. Shoichi was the one who thought about using the flames and ring. Chrome was the one who knew how to summon the flames. Ken was the one who used his flames to heal Mukuro. Chikusa was probably the one who tried to stop Mukuro's bleeding with the makeshift bandages thus keeping the illusionist alive before Tsuna came. But what about Tsuna? What did he do?

_Everything would have worked out in the end even if I didn't come. Shoichi-kun would have brought the first-aid and towels, and everyone already has a ring so it wouldn't be hard to find it in Kokuyo Land._

Tsuna continued to walk passed the dilapidated buildings. There were no birds around chirping their happy songs, but even if there were birds, Tsuna wouldn't pay attention to their singing. Nevertheless, it was so silent. The only noise came from the brunet's footsteps. However, he suddenly stopped.

"Damn it!" His right fist collided into the wall of one of the buildings. It resulted in his fist shaking uncontrollably as blood started to drip down from where it contacted the wall. Then he clenched his fist tighter than before, digging his nails into the palm of his hand. The crimson liquid slowly trailed down his hand and little dots of red hit the ground.

_At that time, Mukuro gave me a hint about the ring yet I didn't realize it._

_A hand landed on top of Tsuna's own trembling hands. It belonged to Mukuro. "You know what to do. You just have to think. That's why everyone followed you. If you don't, I'll see you in hell."_

_His hand was touching the ring. Why couldn't I have realized that? If his condition worsens, it'll be my fault. And if the worst happens..._

Tsuna removed his hand from the wall but kept his face hidden by his bangs. He slowly moved his hand to his pocket and touched the switchblade. Then with a swift movement, he threw the knife towards the roof of one of the buildings.

"Who's there?" Tsuna asked with his eyes narrowed. He couldn't see the person, but he felt someone's presence nearby in the direction of where he threw the knife.

Tsuna only received silence so in return, he took out his gun. The gun was a Desert Eagle that he received as a birthday present from Chikusa. However, he had not time to walk down memory lane.

"Come out. I know where you are," Tsuna said. It wasn't the complete truth, but he felt the general area of where the person was. If need be, he'd go over there, and search for the unlucky person.

"Put away your gun. I'm not here to fight," a voice said. Slowly, the person came out from behind the building. The sunlight steadily cleared the image of who was walking out of the shadows. First he saw the long pink hair that instantly set off alarms in his mind. Then he saw the emerald eyes that reminded Tsuna of a certain bomber. Bianchi stepped forward while holding the switchblade Tsuna threw.

"How do I know that you're not here to murder me like you told Reborn?" Tsuna said although he slightly lowered his gun. He watched as Bianchi dropped his switchblade a couple of meters away from her and continued to walk towards him. Tsuna kept his gun raised, but it didn't look likely that he'd pull the trigger the closer Bianchi got.

Once she was close enough, she forced Tsuna to lower his gun by gently pushing his hand down. However, he didn't put his gun away, only leaving it in his hand at his side.

"How much did you see?" Tsuna asked quietly once a few seconds passed. He kept his eyes hidden behind his bangs as he looked down at the ground. Bianchi watched the brunet for a couple more seconds, making sure that he won't use his gun.

"Ever since you left your friend's house," Bianchi answered just as quietly. She saw the brunet tense for a moment, but then he relaxed. However, his hand holding the gun moved, and Bianchi prepared to attack if necessary.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to shoot," Tsuna said although he sounded a bit different. Bianchi watched as the brunet put his gun away and raised his head. What she saw was not what she expected.

His eyes were orange.

No, that was not necessarily true. There were some hints of brown in his eyes. Nevertheless, the color of his eyes changed. Perhaps this was one of the secrets Reborn was wondering about.

"I take it that Reborn asked you to follow me around. I had wondered when he would make his move," Tsuna said, snapping Bianchi out of her thoughts. She watched the brunet walk over to where she had thrown the switchblade. He picked it up and examined it in his hands. "I want to make a deal with you."

"What kind of deal?" Bianchi questioned while watching the brunet. She knew that something had changed about Tsuna, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Although I know that the inevitable will come, I just want to postpone the time. If you don't tell Reborn about what you saw, I guarantee you that he will be free," Tsuna told Bianchi although the first part was mostly to himself. She knew that he was serious in what he was saying; there was only seriousness in his expression. There was no impatience and no anger, only the conviction that wanted her to believe in his words.

"You guarantee that he will be free from you? Unless you die, you will be Vongola Decimo. There is no other way," Bianchi reminded. She noticed the look of amusement on Tsuna's face before he moved his head to watch the sunset.

"I only said "he will be free". I cannot tell you what he will be free from yet, but in the future I will. I don't blame you if you don't trust me, but this involves Reborn's life," Tsuna said. His gaze lingered on the sky before looking at Bianchi. At that moment, Bianchi realized what had changed about Tsuna. He seemed calmer and that was evident in his tranquil gaze. "If I fail to free Reborn, I will allow you to kill me. I will make it seem like you killed me for treason, and your actions will be justified."

"But that will only happen if you agree."

* * *

A/N: As for Natsu, around the Kokuyo Gang he's like what you saw in a previous chapter and calm although during the previous chapter he wanted to get straight to business. Around others he's also calm. The mystery around Natsu will be revealed in the main plot as well as other things. If you're still confused on how exactly Mukuro got injured please say so in the review. Information about the rings and flames will be revealed in later chapters although it might not be revealed right away. Pretty much if you have any questions, just ask.


	11. Chapter 11 What Was Forgotten

A/N: Thank you MissSexyRain, Lexie-chan94, Yoshikuni Itoe, Mockingjay Rose, , and BrokenBlackCat for your reviews!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert (although it's now changed to follow)! Oh, and thank you to the ones who put me as their favorite author/ author alert!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 11:

What Was Forgotten

A soothing melody played outside from the singing birds. The sound of steady tapping from the tree branch just outside the window added to the deceitful peace. However, none of that woke Tsuna up. It was from the warmth of the sun on his face did he awaken.

It felt strange to him. He usually woke up to Reborn's mallet or by any "traditional" Vongola wake up call, which put his life at risk. Actually, this time Tsuna had expected to wake up in an unknown room while being tied to a chair because of what happened yesterday.

Yesterday, just what happened after Bianchi appeared? She heard and saw everything that happened. Bianchi could have easily told Reborn everything, and she probably did since she seemed to be obsessed with him; besides, she had more to gain than to lose if she told Reborn. Then with the knowledge of Tsuna's friends, Reborn could research their backgrounds. It would be a domino effect causing all the secrets Tsuna had to be revealed one after the other. It would destroy everything that he had managed to hide, but there was always that sense of freedom that came with it.

No, he decided to live this way. He had to have secrets, and he had to hide them from the Mafia world. He shook those thoughts out of his head.

He did not wake up being bound to anything. Tsuna sat up and looked around the room. Reborn wasn't in here and neither was anyone else. That was too suspicious. Should he use this time to call Chrome about Mukuro's condition?

_I'm never sure if there are any listening devices planted in the room. Besides, Reborn had all the time in the world yesterday when I was gone. Perhaps there's a trap waiting for me outside the door?_

Tsuna looked to the clock and saw that it was six in the morning. He had plenty of time to prepare for school, and he could walk over to Kokuyo Land to see how everyone was doing. However, he just felt so exhausted. How did he wake up so early by himself? Well, the sun did help him since it seemed to be so bright today.

Tsuna ignored the urge to fall back asleep. This was no time to be lazy. _Just get ready for school and try to live through an encounter with Reborn. Let's hope I don't die today._

* * *

Slowly yet steadily, Tsuna made his way down the stairs. He could hear the sound of footsteps in the kitchen. Was his mother in there? Usually she wouldn't wake up until a couple of minutes later although Tsuna had an inkling of who it was.

Tsuna didn't know why he was acting like this in his own home, but he slowly peeped into the kitchen only to see the two people he was trying to avoid who were also who he had suspected to have created the footsteps. Unfortunately, he was spotted so quickly.

"Dame-Tsuna, do I need to teach you how to be stealthy?" Tsuna ducked his head in time to avoid a fork being implanted in his forehead. Still being uncertain, Tsuna took a step into the kitchen and saw that things were as normal as it could be with two hitmen around.

"As a favor for Reborn, I will be partly tutoring you. I will be assisting you in home economics and art," Bianchi said as she took a step towards him. "This is a cake I made to celebrate this event."

Tsuna's thoughts went back to the time she tried to kill him when they first met. The carpet and floor were gone in an instant. He took a step back the closer the cake came. Did she not know that the food was poisonous? Or is she still trying to kill him? That would make sense since she did not have much reason to do otherwise.

"I'm not hungry right now so you can feed it to Reborn. If Kaa-san asks, I already left for school," Tsuna said. He hurried out of the house, not waiting for the time when Reborn would use Leon as a weapon for his comment.

Bianchi watched Tsuna leave before walking to the table Reborn was sitting at. It would be great if she and Reborn could eat the cake together since she had planned to if Tsuna had refused, which was almost inevitable. However, Reborn was sleeping with his eyes open as a bubble came out of his nose.

"Reborn must be tired from waking up so early," Bianchi said and placed the purple cake on to the table. She watched the infant for a few more seconds before cutting herself a slice of cake. She was oblivious to the fact that the knife was melting.

In the currently quiet house with only Bianchi awake, the female hitman let her thoughts stray, which she would never do anywhere else. As she was eating her cake, she recalled yesterday's events.

(_flashback_)

"But that will only happen if you agree."

Tsuna waited a couple of seconds for the information to sink in to Bianchi. Reborn could not find out the truth right now. If he did, the brunet's plans would fall apart. However, whether he liked it or not, Reborn would someday know his secrets. He was simply postponing the time when everything would be revealed. However, postponing the time was also a part of his plan. Instead of worrying endlessly and doing futile attempts to let his secrets stay a secret, he would fully utilize the situation. He would manipulate it in his favor and everything would go according to plan.

But that would only happen if Bianchi agreed.

Tsuna watched amusedly at Bianchi as she tried to keep a calm facade while she sorted everything out in the inside. There was nothing else he could do for now. He just needed to hear Bianchi's answer, but there was no need to rush.

_Bianchi doesn't know that right now I'm Natsu. However, if I were to tell her, she would get the wrong impression. Besides, there's no need to tell her or Reborn right now._

The brunet gave a fake cough to catch Bianchi's attention again. "You don't need to rush in your decision. I will give you by Wednesday to hear your response. However, do understand that if you don't give me an answer by then, any harsh actions I make after the time limit will not fully be my responsibility."

Tsuna knew that with the vague threat he would not be as underestimated. But he just needed to say a few more words so that Bianchi would not doubt the threat. He had met so many people who had underestimated him and thought of him as cocky when he knew his own strengths.

"This is the Mafia. If you do not respect the deal along with its time limit, I am free to do so as well since the deal would no longer stand. You know as well as I do that age does not necessarily equal experience," Tsuna said. He smirked when he saw Bianchi tense. Now he did all he could do. He just had to wait. Luckily he was a patient person when he wanted to be.

(_end flashback_)

Bianchi cut herself another piece of cake; it was her fifth piece. At that time, she felt that Tsuna was in control of the situation. Was it because of his words? Or was it because of the aura he gave off? Whatever it was, she did not like it in the least. With that look in Tsuna's eyes, she felt that even though she had a decision, it was not really her decision. With that omniscient gaze, she felt that her answer was already predicted. She did not enjoy feeling controlled.

She looked back at Reborn who was still sleeping. "Reborn, you were right. Your student still has a lot of secrets."

* * *

Tsuna hurried out of the house and headed straight towards Kokuyo Land. On his way, he couldn't help but think about Reborn and Bianchi's behavior. The two had acted as if they didn't know about yesterday's events. He was sure that Bianchi had told Reborn; why wouldn't she?

_Why are they acting that way? Maybe they just want to trick me. Reborn is a sadist after all so that's not out of the question._ Tsuna shook his head to try to think straight. _No. It's because Reborn is a sadist that he wouldn't do that. Besides, I'm sure that if Bianchi told Reborn about yesterday's events, he would have at least thrown a knife at me and not a fork._

Tsuna paused in his thoughts and decided to use his phone. He took it out of his school bag and dialed the number he was familiar with.

"Chrome, is that you? How's Mukuro doing?" Tsuna asked after he heard the illusionist's quiet voice. The brunet glanced behind him to make sure that Reborn or Bianchi wasn't following him. He had made the mistake yesterday of being too caught up in his emotions to not even check if someone was following him.

"Mukuro-sama is doing fine. He just needs to sleep," Chrome answered. Tsuna breathed out a sigh of relief. It seems like nothing drastic happened after he left. "Boss, would you like to schedule a meeting?"

"A meeting? Yeah, I think after school today would be the ideal time. It'll take place at Kokuyo Land at four in the afternoon. If I can't make it, sort out the information and send it to me through the phone," Tsuna said. "Also, if anything happens to Mukuro, don't hesitate to call me. Okay?"

"Yes Boss. Are you heading to Kokuyo Land right now?" Chrome asked. Tsuna didn't really need to answer her question so she continued. "Shoichi-san asked me to tell you to meet him at his house this morning. He wanted to discuss something with you."

"Okay. Thank you, Chrome. I'll head over there now," Tsuna said and ended the conversation. He started to make his way around town to Shoichi's house. However, it just felt strange to him. Yesterday Mukuro was dying. Yesterday Bianchi found out about his friends or subordinates. Yet today Mukuro was fine. Today Reborn didn't seem to know about what Bianchi found out. He had done nothing throughout the entire thing; it felt like he was just a spectator. He felt that the situation was being controlled by some force, and he was forced to watch everything unfold.

Not only that but he a feeling that things were going to become worse sometime in the future. He had a feeling, perhaps it was his intuition, that told him that this was the calm before the storm. That this was just the beginning that warned him of a more chaotic future.

Tsuna snapped out of his thoughts when he stood in front of Shoichi's house. How long did he spend on thinking? It didn't matter now. He raised his hand to knock on the door when the door opened.

Shoichi was startled when he saw Tsuna's raised fist. If this were in a different time and place, it would look like Tsuna was threatening him. However, the brunet lowered his fist and coughed lightly to bring Shoichi back to reality.

"I was just about to knock. Were you heading out somewhere?" Tsuna asked to try to break the silence. Shoichi readjusted his glasses to focus on the conversation and not his thoughts.

"Yeah, I was about to walk closer to your house and call you over. But it looks like you woke up early," Shoichi said. Tsuna walked out of the way to let Shoichi close the door. The two of them started walking together in the early morning of Namimori.

"Chrome said that you wanted to talk to me about something?" Tsuna asked to initiate the conversation once more.

"Yeah. About yesterday, you shouldn't blame yourself for anything," Shoichi said. That took Tsuna aback as he tried to understand the redhead's words. "I saw the dent and blood in one of the walls leading out of Kokuyo Land."

"Oh that," Tsuna realized. "To tell the truth, I was angry at myself for not being helpful. And before you say anything, I do understand that I was the one who had the ring. But..." Tsuna looked up at the sky. He was feeling fatigued just like he had been last week on the day he met Gokudera. Thankfully there was no headache. However, since he was feeling so low on energy he also felt low on spirits.

"Well, if you feel like you have to redeem yourself, I have something you can help me with," Shoichi said while watching Tsuna. "Um, this was actually the reason I wanted to meet you in the morning. It's about Lambo."

"What about Lambo?" Tsuna questioned when he saw Shoichi rub the back of his head sheepishly.

"When I came back home, he wasn't there. I don't think the door was closed so he must have escaped," Shoichi replied, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Can you try to find him? I'll help as well, but I think it would be for the best if we split up."

"Okay," Tsuna replied. However, he suddenly had a guilty feeling in his stomach again. Shoichi turned to walk a different road and waved.

"I'll be looking in this direction. I'll see you later," Shoichi said. Tsuna waved back and tried to concentrate on what he felt so guilty about. He knew it was about Lambo but what exactly about him?

Then he recalled something.

_"For today I won't leave you alone."_

_"Promise?"_

_"I promise."_

Tsuna's face grew paler. He had completely forgotten about Lambo yesterday and had left the cow-child alone in Shoichi's house thus breaking the promise Lambo took to heart.

He rarely promised anything and took whatever promise he made to heart. It was an act he had ever since he was a child; it was a habit that he found childish at times but didn't dare to go against. Maybe it was because of a promise he made with his father that he still took any promise seriously.

But to break the promise that had gained so much trust from Lambo...

Tsuna sighed. He felt his spirits deflate even more. All he could do now was to try to find Lambo and to apologize to him. Hopefully nothing happened to the cow-child.

* * *

He had spent about an hour looking for Lambo. Within that hour he made no progress on Lambo's whereabouts. Also, since he had spent an hour trying to look for the cow-child, he had about ten minutes until school started. He was about to leave looking for Lambo for later when he heard a familiar voice.

"Lambo-san wants to eat this cake!" Without a second to waste, Tsuna rushed towards the sound of the voice. As he had expected from the outburst, Lambo was inside a cake shop.

"What about this cake?" Tsuna turned his attention to the girl next to Lambo. He didn't recognize her, but she must have found Lambo when he escaped Shoichi's house. Even though the shop window was open, were they really that loud that he could hear them from outside? They must really love cake if that's the case.

Tsuna opened the door, and he heard a bell chime at the same time. The cake shop was small, but it had a welcoming atmosphere. He could see some cakes on display as well as other confectionaries.

He walked over to the two, but the next thing that happened he did not expect. "Gupyah! Lambo-san does not want to see a liar!" Just when Lambo said that, the cow-child threw a slice of cake at Tsuna. The brunet was caught off guard so the cake landed on his face.

"Hahi! Lambo-chan, don't waste the cakes," the brunette girl scolded. Lambo didn't listen and stuck his tongue out at Tsuna. While this was happening, Tsuna wiped the cake off his eyelids in order to see. It seems like it would take awhile for Lambo to trust Tsuna again. "Haru is sorry about that. Please forgive Lambo-chan."

Tsuna graciously accepted the napkin and started to wipe the cake off his face. "It's my fault. Lambo was with me yesterday but something happened. I left Lambo alone in the house, but he managed to escape," Tsuna replied and threw the napkin in to the trash. However, he did not expect the next thing to happen.

"So you're the one Lambo-chan was talking about! Haru does not appreciate people who break their promises!" Tsuna was caught off guard once again and ended up being kicked by Haru, which ended up in him lying on the floor. _Why is it me who suffers all the time?_

Tsuna sighed before standing up. He dusted off his school uniform before watching Haru. Right now, he was not in the mood to argue or to fight. He just wanted to apologize to Lambo and clear up any misunderstandings Haru had.

"I'm sorry for breaking my promise with Lambo, but I only came here to apologize. I don't want to fight," Tsuna said, but Haru continued to stand in front of Lambo protectively. Apparently this was getting nowhere when Haru decided to kick Tsuna again. But this time, he was prepared.

Tsuna grabbed Haru's leg when it was about to hit his stomach. He predicted the next action of a punch so he held her fist. That left Tsuna with no hands and Haru with one so she did what she saw in movies and aimed a punch to Tsuna's face.

But Tsuna expected that. He released his hold on Haru's leg and fist and dodged to the left. Haru's momentum continued so she ended up falling onto the floor. Well, Tsuna was now satisfied with his little revenge of Haru kicking him.

With his senses more alert, he dodged the cake that Lambo threw at him. _When was this going to end?_ Luckily there were no other customers in the shop to witness this fight if it could be called one.

"I didn't come here to fight. So can you please relax?" Tsuna pleaded. When he saw that Haru was not willing to give up, he decided to just sit at one of the tables. He knew that this action would confuse her, but he did not want to fight. He was already fatigued for a reason he did not know.

However Haru was never one to give up. She marched over to the brunet and decided that she was not done yet.

_Slap!_ Tsuna's right cheek now stung. "That was for breaking your promise with Lambo-chan!" _Slap!_ Tsuna's left cheek now stung. "That was for not keeping a better eye on Lambo-chan!" With that done, Haru sat down at the seat across from Tsuna.

Just when Tsuna thought that the abuse would end, Lambo leapt onto his head and started pulling at his hair. "Lambo-san is getting revenge!" No matter how childish this revenge was, it started to hurt Tsuna's head especially when Lambo decided to pull some hair out.

However, he ignored the pain in favor of starting to speak. "Haru is your name, right?" He received a nod. "Okay. Haru, yesterday was a terrible day for me, and I know that was no excuse to not keep a better eye on Lambo. I regret that, and I know that some stranger could have appeared and kidnapped him. Luckily and thankfully it wasn't a kidnapper who found him and instead it was you. So thank you for keeping Lambo safe, and I'm sorry."

Haru watched Tsuna's expression. She found that it was sincere and that Tsuna meant what he said. But this was the one Lambo talked about. Just because he apologized didn't mean that the action was forgotten.

"If Lambo-chan forgives you then I will too," Haru said while reaching up to take the cow-child off of Tsuna's head, which the brunet was thankful for. "Lambo-chan, do you forgive him?"

Tsuna knew the answer when Lambo stuck his tongue out at him. "No!" The brunet sighed again and lowered his head into his arms. This was getting nowhere, and he did not know what else to do. Perhaps it was meant to be like this? His actions put Lambo in danger. He was too blinded by his fear and anxiety that he had forgotten about the cow-child. Of course he wouldn't be forgiven so easily.

Tsuna didn't bother to move when Lambo decided to use Tsuna's head as a punching bag. He just sighed even more, too lost in thought and too low on energy. Haru did not know if she was doing the right thing, but she tried to reassure herself that the person in front of her took a child's trust for granted. But she had been expecting someone else from Lambo's description, someone more dangerous looking or someone more evil like the Namahage.

Now she started to question if Tsuna was all right since she could feel the gloomy aura radiating off of him. Would the Namahage be depressed at scaring children? No, that was what the Namahage does for a living so Tsuna couldn't be as scary as the Namahage, right?

"Can you explain what happened yesterday to Haru?" the girl asked. Tsuna raised his head and stared at Haru for a bit, as if deciding something. Then he stood up and went to the cashier and left some money before speaking.

"If you want to know, come with me. I'll also be paying for the cakes to try to make up for the promise, but I won't ask for forgiveness if you don't want to," Tsuna said. He walked to the exit and looked back to Haru as if asking if she was going to follow. Haru immediately scrambled out of her chair and carried Lambo in her arms.

She somehow knew that Tsuna wasn't going to do anything to her and Lambo so she followed him out the door. Perhaps she was gullible or perhaps it was woman intuition? But if he was going to do something, she was thankful that she brought pepper spray with her.


	12. Chapter 12 Fail To Understand

A/N: Thank you Lexie-chan94, Amaya Ishimoto, MissSexyRain, BrokenBlackCat, Narutopokefan, Yoshikuni Itoe, HoshinaYuki, and Mockingjay Rose for your reviews! No really, thank very very much! I will reply to your reviews (and review some fanfics) soon!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert (although it's now changed to follow)! Oh, and thank you to the ones who put me as their favorite author/ author alert!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 12:

Fail To Understand

"Where are we going?" Haru asked as she followed Tsuna with Lambo in her arms. Tsuna kept quiet and continued to walk. She had asked this question over and over again for the past seven minutes, but Tsuna couldn't blame her. He was the one who asked her to follow, and he is a stranger to her. That's why he tried to be as far away from any alleys or secluded places on his way to the destination.

"Wait here," Tsuna said. He ran off towards the bridge leaving Haru with Lambo on the hill. Haru stood patiently but looked around her in order to see if there was anyone else nearby. She could see no one except for Tsuna and someone selling something on the bridge. She squinted her eyes to see what the person was selling, but they were too far away.

Haru decided to sit down on the hill. Today she had no school and had decided to spend her time with Lambo. Of course she did not expect to see the one that left Lambo alone or to even spend her day talking with the one responsible.

When Tsuna came back, Haru rummaged through her pants pocket to find her pepper spray. Tsuna was not what she had imagined from Lambo's description but that didn't mean that he was a good person. He was still the one who broke Lambo's trust so she had to be prepared.

"Here," Tsuna stretched his left hand which held a dumpling bun. Haru was taken aback by the kind gesture, but she didn't take it. When Tsuna saw that Haru was hesitant, he decided to sit down next to her; that way it would be less tiring as he continued to hold out his hand.

_Why would he buy Haru food? Maybe he's a kidnapper and the bun is drugged! That must be it!_

Tsuna saw that Haru's face seemed to be less confused, but he saw that Haru unconsciously adjusted herself in a more defensive position. Tsuna let out a sigh and set his eyes onto the sky.

"You think that this is drugged, and I plan to kidnap both you and Lambo, right?" Tsuna asked. Haru stared at him. _Is he confessing the truth?_ "I can't blame you for suspecting me of doing such a thing. I used to be the same although I took it too far after an incident. I refused to eat anything for a week before I collapsed."

Tsuna still remembered that time when his food was first poisoned in an attempt to kill him. He was eight at the time and had been lucky to only eat a little bit of the poisoned food at the restaurant. He was immediately sent to the hospital and that was when Shoichi decided to make an antidote to counteract most poisons. Now that he thought about it, he needed to ask Shoichi to make another bottle of the antidote since he spent his previous one on Bianchi.

"If you don't want to eat, that's fine with me," Tsuna said before biting into his dumpling bun, which he held in his right hand. He was actually very hungry. He wasn't able to eat breakfast, and he didn't remember eating any dinner.

"Fine. Haru will take it," Haru said before grabbing the food in the still outstretched hand. She looked back at Tsuna before taking a hesitant bite into the food. That might as well be her only bite of the food since Lambo decided that the food was his.

"This is Lambo-san's now!" Lambo proclaimed as he gobbled the food until all of it was gone. Not feeling satisfied, Lambo decided to steal Tsuna's food which the brunet had predicted.

Tsuna held out his hand and the cow-child took it with no hesitation. His mind was only focused on eating the dumpling bun.

"So now that the food is gone, I guess I can start explaining things to you," Tsuna said. He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment as if deciding what he was going to say next. "Yesterday, I was in a hurry to deal with an urgent matter. In my anxious state, I was only able to focus on where I was heading so I forgot about Lambo. But it sounds like I'm making excuses, doesn't it?"

Tsuna did not know why he had brought Haru here. Sure he was trying to tell her his part of the story, but it just sounded like excuses. He knew that he could not tell her everything so was there really a point in trying to explain things to her? Lambo was not his responsibility despite both of them ending up victim to Reborn's sadistic ways. Lambo was only trying to assassinate Reborn although he could never succeed. Either way Lambo was not his charge, and the cow-child did not even want to be his charge either. So was there really a point in trying to explain things?

Haru watched Tsuna silently, noticing that he went back to thinking again. At this rate, more than half of the time "explaining" would go to Tsuna's time thinking. So Haru decided to initiate the conversation again.

"Just because something showed up doesn't mean you could leave Lambo-chan alone like that. You could have left him with someone or bring him along with you," Haru said. From her words, guilt decided to stab him, but Tsuna ignored it. He could not say any more or else by some chance Reborn would get Haru to tell him. Reborn had his ways, and Haru had a soft spot for children so it wouldn't be too difficult for the infant.

"I know, and I'm sorry. My actions don't deserve to be forgiven," Tsuna said. _Just how they were never forgiven six years ago._ "But I'm sure Lambo will be safe in your care. That's all I wanted to know."

Tsuna stood up and held out his hand to Haru. "I'm really sorry for the trouble. Please accept my apology." He had wanted to say more but decided against it. This was enough even if Haru was likely to not forgive him. If Haru met some people from the Bovino Family because of her relation to Lambo, Tsuna would deal with those people before they could reach her. That was the least he could do since Lambo was originally going to be staying with him or Shoichi before the incident.

_That wasn't much of an explanation, but I've done enough damage. It's time for me to head to school even though I'll be late-_

Tsuna ducked his head just in time to avoid a bullet. He raised his head quickly and spun around to see the owner of the bullet.

There were two people standing about five meters away from him. One of them was noticeably bulkier than average and had a height that could intimidate thousands of normal civilians. The other one was of average height and had spiky hair but not as spiky as Tsuna's. From their clothing, they were clearly not from anywhere close by.

"Shouldn't you be in school Vongola Decimo?" the shorter of the two said. Tsuna spotted the gun held in his hand. _It seems to be safe to assume that they're not in the Yakuza but in the Mafia._

"Look over there Lenny. There's the Bovino Family member, Lambo," the bulkier one said. Tsuna immediately moved in front of Haru and Lambo and reached for his gun. Haru looked at the two strangers. Her mind only had thousands of questions filled with surprise and confusion, and her face displayed those emotions. _Who's Vongola Decimo? Are they also after Lambo-chan?_

"Who are you? Which Family are you from?" Tsuna asked with his voice serious and slightly dark. He observed their movements and watched as their mouths shape into smirks. _They're either confident enough in their abilities to win or cocky inexperienced hitmen. It could be either since I think they believe I am also inexperienced._

"It's fine to tell you since you'll die soon," the one named Lenny said. _Looks like it's the latter then. _"I am Lenny and this is Manny. We are from the Macchina Family who will prove that we are stronger than any other Mafia Family."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow._ From what I know, the Macchina Family is a small and secluded Family that puts its members through a "special" and "secret" training course. They have been silent but perhaps they are making their move now._

"And you plan to prove that to the Mafia world by killing the Vongola Decimo?" Tsuna questioned. The widening of their smirks answered his question. _That's just asking for your deaths. Even if I do die, the Vongola will do something since their reputation isn't just for show. It looks like the whole Macchina Family lacks observation or even common sense._ "What does Lambo have to do with this then?"

"We weren't expecting to see him," Manny said, "but we have our own reasons for killing him. But what do we do with the girl, Lenny?"

Haru seemed to flinch at her name. She had been trying to calm herself down so she had zoned out of the conversation. But now that her name had been spoken, she paid strict attention.

"What do you suggest Decimo? I'm sure you have tons of experience yourself with killing others. You are also a mafioso like us," Lenny said. Realization showed itself onto Haru's face although the realization was formed from a misunderstanding. This misunderstanding caused a deadly consequence that might as well killed both of the brunets and Lambo.

"Hahi! So you are working with them! And I bet you're planning on hurting Lambo-chan!" Haru exclaimed while suddenly standing up. She hugged Lambo to her chest protectively and began to glare at Tsuna. _All this time he's been lying to both Lambo-chan and Haru. Haru will not be made a fool again!_

"Haru you got it wrong. I'm not with these guys!" Tsuna said, but he was ignored. Things were going downhill quickly, and there was no time to explain anything. Nevertheless he still had to deal with these Mafiosi and protect both Haru and Lambo. "Haru-"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her pepper spray. Tsuna's eyes widened as his mind began to comprehend where this was going. He was too late to do or say anything when the chemicals reached his eyes.

* * *

A/N: *The Macchina Family including Manny and Lenny are not OCs. They were in a special chapter in the KHR manga called "Reborn vs Evil Hitmen".*

I have a question for you guys concerning the next chapter and it concerns Lambo (sorry for making you wait about Mukuro and Bianchi). I've read some interesting fanfics about the reason why Lambo's Boss sent him to Japan to assassinate Reborn. I want your opinion on what I should do.

1) Lambo's Boss wants to dispose of Lambo since he thinks that the child is useless and his patience has run out. He sent Lambo to Japan to assassinate Reborn but thinks that Reborn would kill Lambo instead.

2) Lambo's Boss predicts that the Bovino Family will be attacked soon so he sent Lambo to Japan so that he would live. Bovino's Boss knows that Lambo would want to stay so he gave him the task of assassinating Reborn so that Lambo would leave and live.

3) There are internal issues in the Bovino Family. The Boss knows that one of his subordinates is planning a coup d'état so there will be a new Boss for the Bovino Family. Knowing that many people in the Family will be killed, Bovino's Boss sends Lambo to Japan to survive under the task of assassinating Reborn. The one planning to overthrow the Bovino Boss learned that Lambo survived under the power of the Bovino Boss so he hired two hitmen from the Macchina Family to kill Lambo.

4) Don't do anything complex with Lambo. Keep it the same as in canon.

So which do you want me to do? If you have any suggestions for any other option, PM me or say so in the reviews. I'll put up a poll soon; I always wanted to make one. I also made some changes to the last chapter, but I'm still not happy with it. Wow I should sleep soon; it's past one in the morning. So thanks again everyone for reading the long author note and please vote!


	13. Chapter 13 Forgiveness and Redemption

A/N: Extra special thanks to Mockingjay Rose, Amaya Ishimoto, Yoshikuni Itoe, X- Death-x, BrokenBlackCat, GirloftheArts, Lexie-chan94, saphire644, Narutopokefan, and MissSexyRain for your reviews! And thanks for all the other people who reviewed my previous chapters and voted on my poll!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert (although it's now changed to follow)! Oh, and thank you to the ones who put me as their favorite author/ author alert!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 13:

Plan of Forgiveness and Redemption

The first thing Tsuna registered in his mind was the darkness. His eyes had closed automatically as if he was possessed by something. He was blind, no doubt about that. The worst part, however, was the burning sensation he felt. It felt as if a lighter was right near his eyes, the flame burning with such an intensity he never experienced before.

Immediately afterwards Tsuna started having trouble breathing and started coughing every now and then. He forced himself to take deep breaths while trying to clear his mind. The effects of the pepper spray were too distracting. He had to remind himself that he was facing two hitmen so he could attempt to ignore the pain. But it was just so tempting to rub his eyes especially since he had nothing to soothe the burning sensation even though he knew that was the worst thing he could do.

"Agh!" Tsuna felt a fist make contact with his stomach. Then before he could react, another fist collided with the side of his head. It did not matter if he was currently blind; he only needed his tongue to know that the liquid inside his mouth was blood from accidentally biting the side of his cheek when the hit landed. He was ready to fall down to the ground since it would be so much easier than what he was about to do.

Forcing his legs steady so as to not fall, Tsuna grabbed one of the arms of his opponent from where his intuition directed him. Then he forcibly pulled the arm closer to him and gathered the strength to head-butt his opponent.

It's too bad that head-butting someone causes pain in both the attacker and the attacked. "Guh..." Tsuna landed on his back in recoil to the impact while his opponent stumbled backwards.

"So the Vongola Decimo can actually fight?" Lenny said from a few meters away from him. Tsuna tried to breathe even though it hurt and attempted to stand up. "Not so fast. This is for your weak attempt of an attack."

Tsuna felt a foot step onto his ribs. He felt the pressure increase as more weight crushed him. _At this rate I'm going to lose- _"Gwa!" He spat out blood as one of his ribs started to crack. The pressure increased slowly onto the ribs in an almost mocking manner.

Then almost instantly, blood sprayed out of his mouth when Lenny stomped onto his ribs, causing one of them to break and the rest to hurt almost as badly. Tsuna could just imagine the smug smirk on the mafioso's face as the brunet desperately tried to ignore the pain and breathe despite the difficulty caused from the pepper spray and blood in his mouth.

"Lenny, we should head back for now. It wouldn't be good if our plan gets ruined if _he_ shows up now," Manny said. Tsuna could faintly hear pounding near where Manny was along with some crying.

"Let go of Haru and Lambo-chan!" Haru tried to break free from Manny who was holding her back from escaping. She tried kicking and hitting him but to no avail. Lambo already had his arms bounded together and was wailing and crying frantically.

"I was just having fun. But the plan must not fail," Lenny said. Tsuna could feel his intuition warning him, but it was too late. Tsuna felt a hand harshly grab his head, lifting it off the ground. Then the hand swiftly pushed his head back to the ground, crashing it with a powerful force.

* * *

Pain. It was something Tsuna swore that followed him around in his life. This time his mind first registered the pounding headache he had. To him, it felt worse than a hit on the head from Reborn's mallet. He willed himself not to wince when he realized he had a broken rib, making the pain momentarily return. He forced his eyes to remain close and his body limp to make him appear to still be unconscious. He had to observe his surroundings without his eyesight unless he made absolutely sure that he was alone.

_I can't move my arms too much so there must be something binding them together. The same goes for my legs, and my torso seems to be tied to the chair I'm on. But there doesn't seem to be any blindfold or gag. If I can cut the ropes around my wrists than I can get out of here. But how-_

"Gupyaah!"

"If you cooperate, we won't beat up the Bovino brat more than what we have to."

"Stop! Release Lambo-chan already! He doesn't deserve any of this!"

That sounds like Lambo and Haru. _What are they doing to them? They must have a reason to keep them alive, but why would they need Haru's cooperation?_

"If you keep quiet, we won't have to electrocute him anymore."

_...so that's why. Haru must have tried to get them to release Lambo, which caused them to have headaches. But why don't they kill her? Any other mafioso would have done so by now so what are they planning?_

"We'll be taking the Bovino brat with us so if you help the Vongola Decimo escape, we won't hesitate to kill the brat."

"Come on Lenny. Let's get out of this room. She's giving me a headache."

_They kept Lambo alive so that Haru won't help me escape. And the same reason must apply to me concerning Haru so that I'll behave in exchange for Haru's safety. But that only goes back to the question of why not kill everyone here?_

The soft click of the door closing echoed within the room. Everything became quiet once more, but there was still so much tension lingering about that it was almost tangible. Tsuna opened his eyes slowly, letting his eyes adjust so that his mind would have an easier time of comprehending his surroundings.

It was still dark; he knew that he even though he did not move his head to look around yet. There were some spots of light within the room; perhaps it came from a window or some lights in this rundown place? From what he noticed, there were papers littered about, but there were mostly broken pieces of the wall. However, it was not as bad as Kokuyo Land.

"Haru, do you know how long I've been out?" Tsuna asked quietly. He waited patiently in the silence. The guilt the truth brought had hit her once more. Tsuna had realized this so he intended to give Haru as much time needed.

"About thirty minutes," Haru responded just as silently. Tsuna lifted his head to see Haru's state. Her wrists were tied together by rope. The same applied to her legs. Her gloomy state made her appear worse. "I'm sorry..."

Tsuna watched the guilt manifest on her face. Guilt, he knew it all too well. If not treated properly, it could eat someone from the inside out. If it was ignored, it could haunt someone for as long as six years or even more. However, it could be cured with hearing just the right words.

"You don't expect me to forgive you, right? You believe that everything you say will just be an excuse so you say no more," Tsuna said. Haru did not look up at Tsuna, letting her answer hang in her silence. "That's how I felt when I was trying to explain things to you. In our minds we believe that the act will always be unforgivable. We believe that forgiveness is something we do not deserve so it is impossible to imagine the other to give something so easily. And even if we are forgiven, sometimes we cannot accept it so we want to do something to redeem ourselves. If you want to redeem yourself, help me get everyone out of here."

Haru finally looked up to Tsuna, seeing that on his face was nothing but knowing eyes and a gentle smile. The eyes held the same guilt of realizing the uselessness of one's actions. The eyes held the same pain of finding out that one did not do anything to help the situation at hand. The eyes and the smile held reassurance of redemption.

"Y-you already forgive me?" Haru asked with her eyes widening from disbelief. The softening of his eyes provided the unheard answer that she longed for. Her mind reeled in shock of being forgiven so quickly. She had been prepared to accept if Tsuna chose to cut all ties from her. She had been prepared to be ignored and abandoned if Tsuna had managed to escape. But how could he forgive someone so easily?

From Haru's position, she could not see that Tsuna's hands were clenched together into fists. In Tsuna's mind, he recalled yesterday and morning's events. He was reminded of his attempts to make things right when they only resulted in not helping the situation.

"Let's get out of here. By the way, we never did introduce ourselves. My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna said.

"I am Miura Haru. So how do we get out of here?" Haru asked. Tsuna's smile turned into a smirk and his knowing eyes turned into scheming ones. He already had a plan in mind, but he just needed time. Well, all he could do was pray that both Lenny and Manny would not enter the room again while his plan was set in motion.

"Haru, I have a pocketknife in my shoe. I can probably kick the shoe over to you, but when that happens, you have to take it out and cut the rope away. I'm not sure how much time we have, but I need your help. Are you ready?" Tsuna said. Haru nodded her head and sat up straight, alert and ready to help. It was up to her to finish the plan; in other words, she was essential and the most important part of the plan.

Tsuna slowly yet steadily worked his way on getting his left shoe containing the pocketknife off. Using his other foot and the floor, Tsuna slowly slid the shoe off until it was halfway on his foot. His eyes examined the distance between himself and Haru; they were about five meters away from each other so this was not an impossible task. Slowly Tsuna brought his foot backwards, and then used the right amount of speed and power and the correct trajectory to kick the shoe right behind Haru.

"Okay, now it's up to you," Tsuna said. It was no easy task to be able to escape especially when you're trying to get the knife with your hands tied behind your back. But Tsuna knew Haru had determination ever since she kicked him. Pain seems to follow him a lot when meeting with new people.

"Almost got it," Haru said. She tilted the shoe so that it would slide down closer to her. Then she turned the shoe upside down so it would drop onto the floor. She left the shoe to the side and tried to grab the pocketknife without her eyes to help her since no matter how much she tried to crane her neck, she could not see the location of the pocketknife. However, not long after randomly trying to find the knife, she was successful.

Escape was a step away at this rate. She took the blade out and began cutting away at the rope on her wrists. After a few moments of blindly sawing the rope, her wrists were free. "Success!" Now she just had the rope binding her legs together before she could help Tsuna out of the rope.

"Hurry Haru. I think they're coming soon," Tsuna said. His intuition started acting up a few seconds ago, causing his head to hurt even more. His head had already suffered enough external injuries from the head-butt and head crashing into the ground. He did not need more pain. _Why is my head a target for so many people? Even Reborn targets it._

"I'm coming," Haru said as she sprinted over to Tsuna. With each step she took, Tsuna's head started to hurt more from his intuition. His intuition was really a double-edged sword that he sometimes questions its worth. Nevertheless he had to be thankful to it for saving his life for so many times. But he'll say his thanks once he, Haru, and Lambo get out of this mess.

Tsuna's legs were free from the ropes and so was his torso. His hands were the only ones left, and he could only hope that Lenny and Manny would not check up on them. If only things went the way he planned.

"Stop what you're doing or else we'll kill the Bovino brat."

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A/N: Yay! I'm finally past 100 reviews! I wanted to celebrate it with a long chapter, but I kind of lost the will to write for some time. I think this chapter would have originally been maybe 5000 words long. So please forgive me. *bows apologetically*


	14. Chapter 14 Hero That Never Was

A/N: Thank you to Yoshikuni Itoe, Lexie-chan94, BrokenBlackCat, Yuu3, and sleepdeprived91 for your reviews!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert (although it's now changed to follow)! Oh, and thank you to the ones who put me as their favorite author/ author alert!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 14:

Hero That Never Was

The two hitmen were standing by the door with Lambo in Manny's hand. At any time, Manny could crush Lambo to death in an instant. Any sudden moves from Tsuna and Haru and that would probably happen. But the question in Tsuna's mind was, "Why?"

_Why didn't they just kill everyone here already? What is there to gain in keeping us alive when their goal was to kill me?_

Tsuna noticed that Haru had stayed frozen behind him since the pocketknife had not moved from the rope. She had not cut deep enough for him to remove the rope from his wrists. At this rate, they would order Haru to move away and drop the pocketknife with Lambo as a hostage.

So he had to hope Haru trusted him enough to look beyond at what he was about to do.

Tsuna lowered his head so that his bangs covered his eyes, but a second later he lifted his head to show a nonchalant expression with apathetic eyes. "Go ahead. I couldn't care less what you do to him if it means I'll get out of this place in the end," Tsuna said with his tone reflecting his expression.

Everyone except for Tsuna jerked backwards by those words. For the hitmen, it was because they had not predicted this. Their plan would fail if Tsuna escaped, and he probably would with the lack of insecurity in his words. For Haru, it was because Tsuna's words had contradicted with the ones he said to her before. She knew that he had genuinely wanted everyone to escape together unharmed. It just didn't make sense, but she was too afraid to do anything in case she made the same mistake of endangering all of their lives again.

Suddenly Haru felt something gently touch her hand. She looked down and saw Tsuna's hand trying to communicate to her through his warm touch. His hand had not grabbed hers forcefully like Manny did to restrain her. His hand did not take the pocketknife to cut the rope away to escape. She realized that he had not harmed her since the moment they met. He had never forced her to do anything.

So it couldn't hurt to trust in whatever Tsuna was planning. She would not make the same mistake again. Her determination was set so she would go along with Tsuna's plan.

"You wouldn't care. But the girl does," Lenny said with a smirk replacing the frown he had moments ago. His eyes looked to Haru, sending a chill done her spine. "He wouldn't care if you died too. Isn't that right?"

"That's right," Tsuna said with a smile full of pride appearing.

"See? If you leave him and come to our side, we'll let the Bovino brat live. But if you're the same as him, we'll have to kill the kid," Lenny continued.

Haru was about to decline when Tsuna tightened his grip on her. It lasted for a few seconds before he returned to the gentle touch. Haru knew to not ignore that. It had seemed like a warning about what she was about to do. But what was so wrong in believing in him?

Then it clicked in her head. She had a part to play in his plan.

"I gave you my trust once more, and it ends up the same! You don't care if you bring people down if it solves your problems! You're the worst!" Haru yelled at Tsuna before running off to where Lenny and Manny were. The two hitmen held identical smirks while watching the scene unfold. The frown on Tsuna's face told them that he did not think things through; he was still too inexperienced and that was his greatest fault. Now the Vongola Decimo could not escape. Things were going smoothly...

"Got you!" Haru exclaimed with Lambo in her hands. She stuck her tongue at them before running back towards Tsuna. She had used the time when Manny's defense was the lowest thus having his grip on Lambo the weakest to save the cow-child.

"Not so fast, " Lenny said. He appeared in front of her as Haru skidded to a stop to avoid bumping into him. "I am called Speedy Lenny. We'll be taking back the brat." Lenny's hand reached out to grab Lambo while Haru brought Lambo closer to her. Just when his hand was an inch away, someone grabbed his arm.

"I won't let you take Lambo, " Tsuna said with his eyes narrowed. Lenny pulled his arm away in time to avoid a fist being aimed at his stomach. "Haru take the pocketknife to free Lambo. Then get out of here."

Tsuna placed the pocketknife in her hand before pushing her to the side to avoid Manny's punch. Lenny was about to head towards Haru when Tsuna stood in his path.

The brunet aimed his fist towards Lenny's head, but the hitman ducked only to be met with an uppercut. While Lenny stumbled backwards, Tsuna positioned himself into his fighting stance while keeping an eye on Manny who was coming closer.

"So that was just an act?" Lenny said as he wiped away the blood at the corner of his lip.

"What did you expect? Although I cannot believe you fell for it. What does this say about the Macchina Family?" Tsuna questioned with a hint of a smirk on his lips. Lenny grew furious at those words and the air of superiority Tsuna gave off. He will not be beaten by someone so inexperienced. He will not be beaten by this teenager. Although the truth was that Tsuna purposely said those words to irritate the Macchina hitmen.

"Manny, let's show him our true form," Lenny said. Tsuna grew cautious when he saw that they started to pull on the skin of their faces. Then it ripped off as it revealed wires and metal in place of skin. "We of the Macchina Family will use our cyborg technology to control the world! We are the hi-tech Mafia of the new century! Killing you is the first step to show the rest of the Mafia World that our technology is both highly advanced and powerful!"

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the new information. _So that must have been what the "special" and "secret" training course was about. It was to change their Family's members into cyborgs. How... unique…_

"So if killing me warrants you the ability to boast about your technology, why didn't you do that before? You had the perfect chance to do so when I was unconscious," Tsuna asked. Truthfully, a part of him might have asked that question to stall for time for Haru to escape. He did not know how strong Lenny and Manny were with their cyborg technology, and two versus one did not seem appealing.

"It's because of that tutor of yours, Reborn. If he comes to your rescue, we can beat him too! We'll show that the Macchina Family is stronger than both the Vongola and the number one hitman!"

At that moment, Tsuna wondered if all of the Macchina Family members received brain damage when they were turned into cyborgs. Reborn could easily take care of these two hitmen without batting an eye. It was not because Tsuna had so much faith in the sadistic demon but because he knew how much strength Reborn had when he did not even try.

"I see that you skipped school, Dame-Tsuna. Do you think that I as your tutor will allow that?" Sitting on one of the boxes in the room was Reborn with a cup of espresso in his hand. He took a sip as he analyzed the situation.

"It has already happened. But I will make up the lessons and the homework although I suspect that won't be enough for you," Tsuna replied.

Immediately afterwards Lenny took off charging towards Reborn. In response, Reborn leapt off the box to the floor as he dodged Lenny's attack. Not giving up yet, Lenny gave a barrage of punches in which Reborn dodged easily while not spilling a drop of coffee. Espresso was just too good to waste for the infant.

"You're not as fast as you claim to be," Reborn said.

Lenny grit his teeth as he glared at the infant. "Manny, let's show him our true strength." Manny walked towards Lenny, and when they were near each other, their metal skin separated to reveal more wires, gears, and advanced technology that Tsuna couldn't describe. Then Lenny and Manny combined their bodies to produce one cyborg with Lenny's head in the middle of Manny's torso with the wires and gears Lenny's head was attached to showing.

"Now we will have both speed and power. We are the strongest, perfect cyborg!" Lenny proclaimed. "Die Reborn!" With a swift punch, they planned to have a one hit K.O.

However, Reborn had no trouble dodging while drinking his espresso.

"Impossible! Now I'm really pissed off!" both Manny and Lenny said at the same time. A smirk appeared onto the infant's face.

"I will not fight an opponent inferior to me. If you're angry, fight against Dame-Tsuna," Reborn said with that same smirk. He leapt onto the same box he sat on before while calmly finishing his espresso. _Let's see how Tsuna fights without any weapons._ This irked the two hitmen, but they had been reminded of their original goal.

"It looks like we'll have to start with you again," Lenny said to Tsuna. "Then after we kill you we'll defeat Reborn and the Bovino brat."

Tsuna stood in a defensive position. "What do you want with Lambo?" The two hitmen snickered at the question before charging towards Tsuna.

Even though Reborn had no problem at all with evading Lenny's and Manny's attacks, Tsuna was not Reborn. The brunet tried dodging the attacks and was successful at first but a fist ended up punching his ribs, sending him crashing into a wall.

Tsuna bit back a cry as he wrapped his arms around his torso. The pain was ten times worse than before, and he thought that another one of his ribs that took the brunt of the attack broke.

"We still remember that I broke your rib before," Lenny said. He walked closer to where Tsuna sat with a smirk on their faces. "You're still inexperienced so die Vongola Decimo!"

Manny's hand soar through the air with the intent of killing him by crushing his head in. Tsuna struggled to stand up, but he did not have enough time to recover from the punch on his ribs.

"Gah!" Tsuna's body remained frozen as his eyes widened at the figure in front of him. His eyes did not dare to blink or return to their normal size as he saw the figure crumple in front of him.

"Haru!" Tsuna caught the girl in his arms while examining the injury. Her stomach was horribly bruised with a huge patch of purple and blue. Her ribs, like his, had also become victim, but they had not taken the brunt of the attack so none of them broke. They just caused unbearable pain. Tsuna could tell that there was a lot of internal bleeding as Haru coughed out blood that painted his face.

"H-Haru is h-happy that T-Tsuna-san is safe. I'm s-sorry I couldn't r-redeem myself. Tsuna-san d-doesn't have to f-forgive me," Haru said before giving a weak smile, a smile that could disappear any second. Tsuna tightened his grip on Haru.

"Don't speak anymore. I told you I'd get everyone out of this, including you. And I've already forgiven you. Alright?" Tsuna said with his voice an octave higher than what it usually was.

"Tsuna-san is so nice. Haru wishes that she could have met Tsuna-san earlier," Haru said before closing her eyes. Tsuna's hands began to shake as he tried to shake her awake but to no avail. She did not even stir from his touch.

"Serves her right for getting in the way. Now to finish you off," Lenny said as Manny once more aimed a punch at Tsuna's head. But in the next instant, his hand was caught in the brunet's own. Manny tried to move his hand, but Tsuna's grip just tightened.

With eyes hidden behind his bangs, Tsuna spoke. "Serves her right?" The tone used sent involuntary chills down the Macchina hitmen's spines. Tsuna raised his head to reveal narrowed eyes filled with nothing but pure hatred, frustration, vengeance, and disgust. He looked even more intimidating with the blood on his face. "Then you will get what you deserve."

Even though Reborn was on the other side of the room, he could sense the murderous aura coming off of Tsuna. This was not like the time when Tsuna gave off the murderous aura to silence everyone at the gym during the day he fought with Mochida. No, this was far different. This actually held killer intent, and Tsuna would do anything to reach his goal in the state his mind was currently in.

Manny tried to retract his hand, but Tsuna's grip would not loosen. So he decided to use his other hand to land a hit on the brunet. This was also caught by Tsuna. He tried pushing Tsuna back, but the brunet only budged a little before kicking Lenny's head.

It was a perfect hit that squashed Lenny's head so Manny had to retreat once Tsuna deliberately released his grip on his hands. During the time Lenny and Manny used to recover, Tsuna took the pocketknife from Haru's limp hand.

Offering little to no time for the Macchina hitmen to make their move, Tsuna sprinted towards them. He ducked under one of the strikes and evaded the next one. Lifting the pocketknife, he slashed at the wires connecting Lenny's head to Manny's torso. However, he did not cut all of them before he received a hit.

Tsuna slid backwards with his feet still on the floor before wiping away the blood on his lips. He had narrowly avoided receiving the full impact of the hit by moving his body back just in time.

With Lenny, there were some sparks of electricity from the cut wires. His right eye twitched in irritation; Tsuna had gone straight to their weak spot, which were the visible wires and gears connected to Lenny's head. They were determined to not let that happen again.

Tsuna narrowed his eyes further as he analyzed the situation. Lenny and Manny were charging forward. With such a blunt and reckless attack, were they worthy to be called hitmen?

Manny's right hand missed Tsuna and crashed into the wall. He aimed once more with his left hand, which Tsuna sidestepped. The brunet walked behind the hitmen and tightened his grip on the pocketknife. Then he engraved an x on Manny's back with two swift slashes. Continuing on, he grabbed both arms. Then he proceeded to pull them backwards with one foot on Manny's injured back to make the process easier.

The more pressure Tsuna placed on the back, the more blood came out from the slashes. It dripped down, staining the brunet's shoes although he did not notice. He did not notice because he was focused on dislocating both of Manny's shoulders with the deep swirls of hatred evident in his eyes.

_Snap! _Manny tried to bite back the cry of pain coming from his left shoulder. He attempted to toss Tsuna off, but before he could, the same sound echoed in the warehouse. _Snap! _"Agh!"

There was a smug smirk on Tsuna's face, but he was not content yet. He released both arms and removed his foot from Manny's back, but then he instantly wrapped his left arm around the hitman's neck. He brought his right hand holding the pocketknife close to the throat so that it was almost touching. His next action would be to move the pocketknife in a swift and fluid motion across the throat, but he paused when the blade only penetrated a bit of the skin, causing a drop of blood to taint the blade.

Tsuna was instantly reminded of a scene he saw before with the smell of death wafting to his nose. Everywhere he looked there were pale faces smudged by a crimson liquid. That same liquid poured endlessly from the multiple holes on the people's limp bodies. All eyes were rigid, displaying the last emotion before they succumbed to the darkness. Their bleak stares were all locked on him, silently accusing him despite his sobs for forgiveness. However, he was never forgiven ever since that time six years ago.

That same history was about to repeat itself if it was not for Reborn's voice.

"Baka-Tsuna, Haru is still alive. Didn't you check her pulse before going berserk?" Stillness and silence engulfed the warehouse afterwards. The words slammed into the brunet, letting the swirls of hatred to disappear into orbs filled with outright relief. But horror and regret slowly wormed their way into his eyes as he stepped away from the Macchina hitmen. He found his hand holding the pocketknife tremble at what he had almost done.

He had almost taken another life.

Calming his suddenly quickly beating heart, Tsuna moved the pocketknife into his left hand while moving his right hand into a fist to cease the shaking. What had gotten over him to forget his original goal? His goal ever since the start was never to kill the opponent; you didn't have to kill to defeat the person though there were times when Mukuro considered lifelong trauma as a method to defeat the enemy. His goal was simply to not kill anyone and if possible save as many people from unwanted death.

However, he was not a hero. He never wanted anyone to call him that. Maybe in some other world where he had not done an unforgivable action could he be called one. But in this world he was not. For him, there was simply too much light applied to the word hero. He could not be associated to something like that.

"You bastard! How dare you make a fool out of us! You've really pissed us off completely!" Lenny exclaimed, moving Tsuna's attention away from his thoughts. Lenny and Manny turned around to face Tsuna with missiles appearing in their mouths. "Now we're going to use our super destructive killing missiles to bury everyone in this warehouse! Fuhahaha! It's too late for regrets-"

"Thunder set!" Everyone's attention was instantly transferred to the one with lightning dancing around him. Tsuna sensed that the person seemed familiar, but he could not put a name to the face. "Long time no see, young Vongola Juudaime. I'm the cry baby, Lambo." Before Tsuna could offer a proper response, adult Lambo charged towards the Macchina hitmen with his horns in front of him. "Electtrico Cornata!"

The impact caused a malfunction to appear in the cyborg hitmen. As long as there was electricity being aimed at them, they could not fire the missiles. However, the effects of the ten-year bazooka did not last forever.

"The person shot with the ten-year bazooka swaps with their self from ten years in the future for five minutes," Reborn said next to Tsuna. The brunet looked down to see Reborn and Haru still unconscious on a green stretcher. "Lambo gave us this time to escape. Let's go."

Tsuna looked back at Lambo who was still holding steady against the hitmen. When five minutes were over, what would happen to the child Lambo? He would not be able to run out in time and thus becoming victim to the warehouse collapsing. But if all of them escaped now, would any of them survive before becoming buried?

"I can't. There's no way I can leave him here to die," Tsuna said with his gaze turning to Reborn. "Take Haru and get out of here. I'll get Lambo to escape."

"And what about you? You will die too if you stay," Reborn reminded. However, that did not faze the brunet. His gaze remained strong and steady, the answer Reborn was looking for. A smirk took home on the infant's lips as he spoke. "Then do whatever you need with your dying will."

Tsuna nodded his head with a hint of a smile appearing before moving his gaze back to Lambo and the Macchina hitmen. In the corner of his eye, he could see Reborn pulling the stretcher to the exit. He had roughly about two minutes left until Lambo turned back into a child. Time was not on his side once more, but that did not matter. He had to get Lambo out of there.

The brunet ran to where adult Lambo was. "Lambo, stop the attack and get out of here!"

Lambo slightly turned his head so he could see Tsuna. "You're still here?"

"When five minutes are over, your child self will come back. The missiles would be fired, and child Lambo would die. If your past self dies than so do you!" Tsuna explained while ignoring the question. Lambo opened his right eye in shock as his expression turned into one of horror. It was clear he did not think things through. "So let's go!"

"Y-yeah." Lambo quickly stopped his attack and ran towards Tsuna. They had to get out of the warehouse as soon as possible before the missiles were released.

_Poof!_ Pink smoke engulfed the area where adult Lambo used to stand. The brunet tried fanning the smoke away from his face to see what had happened. Standing in place of adult Lambo was the child Lambo with a lollipop in his hand.

"L-Lambo..." Tsuna whispered. The child looked up at the brunet in confusion before the Macchina hitmen laughed.

"You two will die here! Launch the missiles!" Lenny said before preparing to send the missiles into the ceiling. Tsuna grabbed Lambo and put him into his arms before trying to sprint out of there. His intuition told him that he did not have enough time to escape. It told him that he could not reach the exit in time. That he would be buried under the remains of the warehouse with Lambo.

He tightened his grip on the child. His intuition had never been wrong before, but Tsuna hoped that he could prove it wrong just this once. Tsuna gritted his teeth just when the missiles hit the ceiling. Moments later the ceiling began crashing down, burying everyone inside.

"Tsuunnaaa!"

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A/N: By the way, Lambo says the last line in case it wasn't clear. Now you've seen Tsuna when he goes berserk and a bit of his past. Lambo's history would most likely be explained in the next chapter. Oh, and I plan for Hibari to show up next chapter if I can include him.

Sorry if I made Haru too stupid in the previous chapters. It was not my intention and never will be since I just wanted to include some misunderstandings in the story. Personally, I like Haru in KHR (I don't hate anyone in KHR), but I think I put her to shame in my writing. *sigh* This is my first time writing Haru and I don't think it turned out so well from the reviews.

So for those of you who want to review, **tell me what you think about the fighting scene**. I have a neutral look on the fighting scene since I feel like it can be better, but I don't know how.


	15. Chapter 15 After The Battle: Before The

A/N: Thank you to Lexie-chan94, Yoshikuni Itoe, BrokenBlackCat, Mockingjay Rose, HoshinaYuki, tsukuyomi. sakurachi (ffn wouldn't let me put your name without the space), and uchiha-sakura193 for your reviews and encouragement!

Actually thank you to everyone for putting up with my hiatus and waiting for this chapter!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and put the story on alert (although it's now changed to follow)! Oh, and thank you to the ones who put me as their favorite author/ author alert!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

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**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 15:

After The Battle: Before The Training

"Move out of the way! The patient is in a critical condition!" a doctor yelled as he and the rest of the medical staff pushed a bed through the hallway. People immediately rushed to the sides so the doctors could pass through.

Reborn walked through the hallway unnoticed as he went to find his student's room. He had left the room around an hour ago to give Sawada Nana her time with her son despite that he was still unconscious. Reborn courteously moved to the left so the doctors could pass by without a problem.

He saw a woman, probably the mother of the unfortunate boy on the bed, weep as the nurses tried to have her sit down. Her sobs could be heard throughout the hallway as her hand desperately extended towards the direction of her son.

Reborn turned his gaze forward as he continued to walk to his student's room. He suddenly stopped in front of a door with the number twenty-seven engraved on it. Slowly he pushed it open to see Nana sitting on a chair beside the bed with his student on it. In the woman's lap was Lambo who was paying attention to his lollipop.

Nana had not noticed his entrance and neither did the two girls sitting on chairs on the opposite side of the bed. The two girls' attention was on Nana who was brushing aside the brunette's bangs gently. The way her lips were tightly sealed and how her eyes had lost their usual exuberant sparkle could tell someone how she truly felt without the need for words.

"How is Tsuna?" Reborn asked which brought Nana out of her trance-like state. She turned her head around with a smile in an attempt of expressing that everything, including herself, was fine. It did not look the least bit convincing.

"The doctor said that Tsuna-kun would wake up sometime today," Nana said. However the worry still remained in her expression as she looked back towards Tsuna as if the time she was talking to Reborn was the time when her son would open his eyes. "But I'm more worried at the fact that this is his twentieth time in the hospital."

Reborn remained silent and waited so that Nana would elaborate, but she did not. Her attention went solely back to her son with her eyes appearing as if she was looking somewhere else in a different time and place.

"You know how reckless Sawada is. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in the hospital fifty more times by the time he gets out of Nami-chuu," Hana began with her arms crossed yet her eyes flickered over to Tsuna. "But he always recovers within a week. There's no reason to worry so much."

Kyoko looked at her best friend as a small smile formed on her face. "Hana, you're also worried about Tsuna-kun; I've been with you long enough to know that he's grown on you. But you're right. The most we have to worry about is if Tsuna-kun will escape the hospital again. He's done that almost every time."

Nana looked at the two girls with something akin to gratitude in her gaze. The first friends her son had brought home were those two. Even though her son had said that Kyoko and Hana had followed him home, Nana knew that he did not really mind. She even got to see her son blush and stammer around them when he would only do so around her; it would have made a great photo in Nana's opinion. At that time she had secretly decided to look upon Kyoko and Hana as the daughters she never had: one as the wise and mature older sister and the other as the adored and kind-hearted younger sister. She had not regretted that decision.

"Sawada is just someone that's not a monkey unlike the rest of the male and some of the female population at school," Hana said while ignoring the stifled laughter of Kyoko. Kyoko knew that whoever was not considered a monkey by Hana was either someone she respected enough or a friend. In Tsuna's case, Kyoko expected that it was both.

"Mama, you should go home and rest," Reborn said suddenly when he knew that Nana was about to look back down at Tsuna. "You've been here ever since Tsuna came into the hospital."

Nana looked back at Tsuna with an almost longing look in her eyes; she did not want to leave yet. She wanted to be with Tsuna when he woke up. Nana wanted Tsuna to understand that she would always be with him and that she was supportive of what he was doing. She wanted her son to understand that she would always lend an ear to him. She wanted him to depend on her a little more and inform him more about his life that she had barely taken a part of.

"I'll tell him that," Reborn said which snapped Nana out of her thoughts. She looked at the infant in surprise and hope. She always knew that Reborn was a special kind of person that would be able to take care of her son.

"We'll take Nana-san home," Kyoko said as she stood up from her seat. "Hana, you're coming too. Reborn-kun, we'll leave Tsuna-kun to you."

Reborn nodded his head causing Kyoko to smile in return. Nana began to stand up with Lambo in her arms, but the cow-child started to struggle. "What's wrong Lambo-kun?"

Lambo extended his arms towards Tsuna as he tried to squirm his way out of Nana's arms. "Lambo-san wants to stay with Tsuna!"

Nana looked at Lambo with understanding as she placed the cow-child onto Tsuna's bed, next to the brunette's head. Lambo adjusted himself to sit in a more comfortable position before looking back up to Nana who had a fond smile on her face. It looked like Tsuna was going to have a younger brother.

"I'll leave Lambo-kun with you, all right?" Nana asked Reborn. The infant nodded his head prompting Nana to leave the room with one last glance to her son. Kyoko and Hana followed after her, closing the door along the way.

Reborn hopped onto the chair Nana was previously occupying. Lambo was sitting contentedly next to Tsuna's head, licking his lollipop while occasionally poking the brunette's face to see if he would wake up. It brought no reaction from Tsuna.

Reborn looked at his student. He could see the bandages wrapped around Tsuna's head and arms. There were some covering his cheeks. Reborn had overheard the doctor speaking to Nana the extent of his student's injuries. There were three broken ribs, and the head had a concussion and some bleeding; pieces of the building had pierced his left thigh and right calf while the collapsed building had broken his right leg and arms. Of course there was also internal bleeding, and the doctor had said it was a miracle that Tsuna would be all right within two to three months with no permanent damage.

The nurses learned about how Tsuna received some of those injuries by protecting Lambo when the roof collapsed. The medics had found Tsuna securely holding Lambo to his chest with his arms wrapped around the cow-child to protect him while the brunette took the brunt of the roof. Reborn had heard the nurses whisper about the act and some called him a hero.

Hero or not, Reborn still had the same goal as before: to make Tsuna a great Mafia Boss. That would mean that Tsuna would meet training soon. According to Reborn, being a Mafia Boss suitable for the title of Vongola Decimo means that Tsuna would have to be better than a Spartan hence the sadistic Spartan training. But even so, he had to take an extra step to deal with the secrets his student was hiding.

Reborn smirked inwardly; he would rip apart his student's confidence into shreds by means of mocking and humiliating the brunette. Then he would rebuild it. That was his teaching style.

Lambo saw that his attempts on waking Tsuna were not working. He glanced down on his lollipop, which he took out of his mouth and back to Tsuna. He took his hand and compared it to the size of the lollipop; the lollipop was larger. An idea formed in his head and soon Lambo put it into action. He took his lollipop and began poking Tsuna with it. "Ne ne, Baka-Tsuna wake up already."

Silence. Lambo began poking Tsuna with his lollipop again with his face scrunched in determination. It didn't last long when the door opened to reveal three people.

"Ahoshi, stop poking Juudaime with your lollipop!" Gokudera rushed towards Lambo before confiscating the candy. In turn, Lambo leapt onto Gokudera's head to pull the bomber's hair painfully while Gokudera tried pulling Lambo off. However, Haru pulled Lambo into her arms before Gokudera had touched the cow-child.

"Gokudera-san, don't bully Lambo-chan!" Haru scolded. Before Gokudera got to retort, Yamamoto placed an arm around Gokudera's shoulder with a cheerful smile.

"You shouldn't bully children, Gokudera. I'm sure Tsuna wouldn't like it either," Yamamoto said. Gokudera shrugged off the arm before taking a dynamite stick out of somewhere in his clothes. He looked less threatening with the lollipop in one hand. "Are you still using those fireworks?"

"They are not fireworks Yakyuu-baka!" Gokudera shouted at Yamamoto. During the time Gokudera was focused on shouting at Yamamoto, there was a movement from the bed. The only one to notice was Reborn who was watching everything calmly as if it was a show.

"Gu..." _It's so noisy..._ The brown eyes opened slowly to see the white ceiling above. His ears picked up familiar voices that he was not able to give a name to at the moment with his mind slowly waking up. He blinked a couple times to clear his vision before attempting to sit up. Pain flared everywhere in his body before falling down onto the bed. That brought attention to him from everyone in the room.

"Juudaime, are you okay? Do you need anything?" Gokudera asked hurriedly as he appeared at Tsuna's bedside. Tsuna took a moment for his eyes to refocus on the bomber before allowing himself to speak.

"I'm fine right now, but what about you? Why do you have bandages all over yourself?" Tsuna asked seeing that Gokudera looked similar to a mummy, and his clothes had rips and tears.

"I'm glad you're fine. I was in a hurry to get here so I got run over a couple of times. But the nurses wouldn't let me come here without bandaging me," Gokudera explained. Tsuna looked at him incredulously. The expression stayed on his face when Gokudera took out roses. The flowers were falling apart and dripped a familiar liquid. "I'm sorry. They were white roses earlier but..."

_They're blood red now!_ "You didn't have to do that," Tsuna said. _And I rather you didn't._ Tsuna turned his head to better see people he recognized as Reborn, Yamamoto, Haru, and Lambo. Upon seeing Haru and Lambo, Tsuna shot up in bed as the previous day's events were replaying in his head. "Haru, Lambo, are you okay?"

More pain hit him in his limbs and back, and Tsuna bit his lip to stop from crying out. Haru rushed over to Tsuna with Gokudera gently pushing Tsuna to lie down once again.

"Tsuna-san, don't move so much. You just woke up," Haru said. Yamamoto walked towards the bed looking at the pained expression on Tsuna's face.

"Don't stress yourself too much, Tsuna. But are you really okay?" Yamamoto asked. He already knew the answer seeing that Tsuna cannot move without being in pain. Only rest could help solve that. So the question Yamamoto should have asked was if Tsuna was_ going to be_ okay.

Once his face relaxed and he opened his eyes again, Tsuna nodded his head to answer the question. He turned his gaze to Haru and noticed there weren't that many injuries. The same applied to Lambo whose face only had a band-aid. "Haru, Lambo, are both of you okay?"

"Yes. I heard from a nurse that someone named Doctor Reboreen took care of our injuries. He's the best doctor this hospital has ever seen and healed our injuries quickly. I'm all fine now but the hospital wants us to stay a little more to make sure everything is all right," Haru said. "It's too bad he hasn't healed you yet."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow at the doctor's name and looked at Reborn. He could see a smug smirk on Reborn's face. Was Tsuna the only one to realize that Doctor Reboreen was Reborn?

"That's a coincidence! I was having a checkup on my broken arm, and the same doctor speeded up my recovery so my arm is completely healed now," Yamamoto said while raising his right arm to prove it. Tsuna turned to look at Gokudera with a question in his gaze. Did Gokudera also have Reborn treat him?

Gokudera noticed the look but shook his head. "No, a random doctor treated me. But if Doctor Reboreen is the best doctor in this hospital, why doesn't the hospital let him treat Juudaime? Juudaime deserves the best!" Gokudera said with conviction. Tsuna let out a silent sigh. It looks like he was the only one to notice that the doctor was Reborn. Somehow, it was not surprising.

"Tsuna, I heard that you saved Lambo from a roof collapsing. Is that true?" Yamamoto asked. Tsuna turned his gaze to Yamamoto while hiding his shock. Did Yamamoto and Gokudera find out about the attack from the Macchina hitmen? If they did, who else knew?

"Tsuna, Haru, and Lambo were walking when Lambo ran off to an old building. Tsuna went inside to bring Lambo out when a strong wind came, and the building collapsed," Reborn said. Tsuna looked at Reborn before turning to Yamamoto when he heard a laugh.

"So that's it. Gokudera, I told you it wasn't anyone from the Mafia game," Yamamoto said. Gokudera began to turn furious at Yamamoto at the latter part of the sentence but stopped when Tsuna began to speak.

"Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto, and Haru, please leave me with Reborn. There's something I want to talk to him about privately," Tsuna requested. All three of them looked at the brunette in confusion and curiosity, but he would not elaborate. Instead Tsuna's eyes were focused on Reborn.

"All right. We'll come back again tomorrow. And I'll bring some of my oyaji's sushi since I wasn't prepared today," Yamamoto said. He brought his arm around Gokudera's shoulder only for it to be shrugged off again.

"Gokudera-kun," Tsuna called to calm the bomber.

Gokudera turned to look at Tsuna, expecting to hear an order. "Yes, Juudaime?" he said hopefully.

"Please give back Lambo's lollipop," Tsuna said. Gokudera seemed to deflate at this before complying with Tsuna's words. Lambo happily grabbed his lollipop before stuffing it into his mouth. After this the four of them left and Tsuna could faintly hear Gokudera arguing with Yamamoto behind the closed door. Once Tsuna knew that they were far away from the door, he spoke. "Reborn, you healed them. I know that. But what happened to the Macchina hitmen?"

"Their bodies were not found. It seems like they escaped," Reborn answered while observing Tsuna. He watched as Tsuna turned his head to face the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. The brunette closed his eyes and breathed out a sigh. Reborn noticed that Tsuna's shoulders appeared less tense and his eyebrows were less furrowed. "If they had died instead, would you feel responsible?"

There was silence from Tsuna's side as he opened his eyes to gaze once more at the ceiling. Reborn continued to observe him. "Why did they target Lambo?"

Purposely ignoring the question, Reborn noted, would most likely mean Tsuna did agree with what Reborn would think as foolish and Tsuna knew that. So to avoid any criticism, Tsuna went to the next question on his mind. Reborn let it slide for now. However, the same might not happen next time.

"The Macchina Family were hired by the Boss of the Bovino Family to kill Lambo," Reborn started. Tsuna immediately turned his head to the infant, his focus entirely on the hitman. "It's actually more complicated than that. The former Boss of the Bovino Family knew that one of his family members were planning to overthrow him, which would create an internal battle. So the former Boss sent Lambo here for him to live. Lambo is the only surviver of the former Bovino Family."

"The current Bovino Boss discovered that Lambo survived under the power of the previous Boss. Enraged that the previous Boss still had some control even after death, the current Boss hired two Macchina hitmen to kill Lambo. It was only coincidence that they found him here, as their original goal to come to Namimori was to kill you. You already know why," Reborn explained.

Tsuna nodded his head but remained silent. What was he supposed to say to that? If the hitmen sent to kill him and Lambo was someone more experienced or smarter than those two Macchina hitmen, would they all be dead by now?

Tsuna thought back to when he was first fighting with Lenny with the disadvantage of the pepper spray. Haru and Lambo were caught by Manny and he was beaten into unconsciousness. At that point, if the Macchina hitmen were smarter, all three of them would be dead along with any witnesses nearby.

Tsuna slightly shuddered at the thought. He could imagine those bleak lifeless eyes staring at him with blood flowing out from multiple injuries and bullet holes. He could almost smell the unforgettable scent of death that was forever engraved in his mind when he was seven years old.

He was about to further walk down memory lane if it wasn't for Reborn. "Mama wanted you to know that you can depend on her. She's upset that you don't talk to her about your problems."

Reborn had been watching Tsuna closely enough to see his student shudder as well as the distant look in the brunette's eyes. He saw that Tsuna was paling to look almost sickly. If Reborn had not snapped Tsuna out of his thoughts, the infant didn't look forward to see what other symptoms Tsuna expressed.

Tsuna took a deep breath before exhaling. The color returned to his face as he tried to momentarily forget about his previous thought. "How can I tell kaa-san that Lambo and I were targeted by hitmen?"

"Figure that out yourself," Reborn answered plainly. Tsuna bit his tongue to hold back from retorting. Besides, he did not want to anger the infant from what he was going to say next. He needed Reborn to accept his request. He absolutely needed Reborn to accept.

The brunette took a moment to treasure the silence before forcing himself to speak. "Reborn, I have a request," Tsuna paused, almost hesitant to continue. "During my encounter with the Macchina hitmen, I found out how weak I was and how much I need to improve. I want, or rather need, to become stronger. Will you train me?"

Reborn smirked; he had been waiting for those words ever since Tsuna woke up. "Of course. That's why I'm here," Reborn said before hopping onto Tsuna's bed, earning him a poorly stifled yelp when he landed on Tsuna's chest. The brunette felt he could not speak with the extra weight on him so he looked at Reborn questioningly. The infant replied nonchalantly to the look. "Training will start tomorrow. If that's going to happen, your injuries will have to be dealt with."

Tsuna raised an eyebrow but soon closed both eyes at the sudden appearance of light. The brunette felt a soothing warmth spread throughout his body; it felt similar to the warmth of the sun on his skin when he was outside. The pain slowly drifted away from his arms as it felt less stiff in his cast. His thigh and calf felt more relaxed as it sunk comfortably into the bed. His head no longer felt as if a knife was piercing into his brain at every sound. The cuts and bruises on his face slowly disappeared. It became more comfortable to breathe as his chest rose up and down with noticeable ease.

Tsuna slowly opened his eyes just in time to see the disappearing light coming from Reborn's pacifier. He dully noted in the back of his mind that the light looked similar to Ken's flames except it appeared to have a crystal-clear color. When the last of the light disappeared, Reborn hopped onto the floor.

"Training starts tomorrow so go to sleep. You won't get much tomorrow," Reborn said before heading towards the door. However, Tsuna forced out two words before Reborn left.

"Thank you." Reborn nodded his head to signal he heard it and then opened the door. A smirk appeared on his face and Tsuna did not get a chance to see his eyes.

"Someone's here to see you," Reborn said before disappearing into the hallway. Tsuna turned his head only for his eyes to widen slightly at seeing who it was.

"Hibari-san, why are you here?" Tsuna asked. He got his answer when Hibari dropped his school bag at the side of his bed with an indifferent expression.

"Do not litter in Namimori, Herbivore," Hibari said. Tsuna continued to stare at the prefect, not expecting to hear that until something hit his face. Tsuna took the item to a comfortable distance away from his face to see a folder he immediately recognized.

"Hibari-san, today is Tuesday. I told you to give this to me on Monday so you still owe me an oven," Tsuna said absentmindedly while flipping through the paper in the folder to check if everything was in there. Hibari narrowed his eyes at the brunette while emitting a deadly aura. Tsuna was unaffected by it after having spent years growing accustomed to it.

"Herbivore," Hibari started threateningly, "You did not go to school on Monday and was unconscious in the hospital for the remainder of the day. There was no time to give you the folder."

"You could have came by my house in the morning," Tsuna reasoned.

"I did."

"When did you come?" Tsuna asked.

"Seven," Hibari replied plainly.

"I left before that. You could have came earlier since you know about my early morning walks," Tsuna said with an afterthought of, "before Reborn came."

"You know I have matters concerning the Disciplinary Committee," Hibari countered.

"And you know how I am when I specifically told you to hand me the folder on Monday," Tsuna replied. "What did you have to do?"

"I bit all the members of the Momokyokai yakuza to death for disturbing the peace of Namimori."

"Could it have waited for after school?" Tsuna questioned. He saw the look in Hibari's expression and knew the answer. "Well, you did bring the folder to me so I'll compromise. Just buy me an oven that can fit in the space where the previous one was and make sure it's not one of those cheap ones."

In response, Hibari turned around and walked towards the door in annoyance. It took three years for Tsuna to compromise about the oven. During those three years, Tsuna was placed as the number one person he wished to bite to death.

Tsuna smiled at the retreating back of the prefect but frowned soon after. He had forgotten about the folder so he did not manage to think of a place to hide it. This folder was the most important folder Tsuna had and was the fruits of his research from his interests. He could not let Reborn see it yet so he could not put it in his cabin or keep it in his house.

Placing the folder on the small table beside his bed, Tsuna decided to think about it later. He sat up on his bed, finding it felt painless now, and reached for his school bag. He went to search for his phone since he could not bring himself to care about his schoolbooks. He breathed out a sigh of relief upon finding it unharmed and immediately went to look for any messages.

There were three, two from Chrome and one from Mukuro. Tsuna skipped the first message since it was from the meeting, and he decided to read it later. The next message was from Chrome. He opened the message.

_Boss, Mukuro-sama is missing! He was on the couch asleep before we started the meeting, but after it ended he was nowhere in Kokuyo Land. We tried calling him but he wouldn't pick up. If you see him, please tell us!_

_-Chrome_

Tsuna's eyebrow twitched at seeing the antics Mukuro was still pulling. He opened the next message, which was from the missing illusionist.

_There is something I need to discuss with you. Come to your cabin and bring no one._

_-Mukuro_

Tsuna began berating Mukuro mentally, slightly hoping the illusionist could read his thoughts at the moment. _Mukuro, you idiot! You didn't even tell them where you were going or leave any kind of note. You just left them with a heart attack!_

Tsuna texted a message to Chrome to relieve them from the Kokuyo Gang from worry. He angrily punched the buttons while trying not to add a curse to Mukuro in the message. After trying to relay a calm message to Chrome, Tsuna placed his phone and folder in his school bag before standing up from the bed. He looked around the room to find a window since he would have a more difficult time trying to escape through the door; he had gained a reputation for escaping the hospital countless times so the nurses and doctors would keep an eye out for him.

Tsuna walked over while putting the strap over his shoulder. He unlocked the window and opened it wide enough for him to escape through. Tsuna placed his right leg outside first and then his left leg. He made sure he had a secure footing and held onto the windowsill. Slowly but surely, he climbed down the side of the hospital while hoping he would not be noticed. Halfway through, he realized it would have been better if he had removed his cast but decided it was too late.

When Tsuna was only a yard away from the ground, he released his hold and landed without a problem. Tsuna brushed the imaginary dust off his clothing and readjusted the strap from his bag to put less strain on his shoulder.

Now he just had to go over to his cabin and meet Mukuro. While he was at it, he could reprimand him about disappearing without notice.

* * *

Mukuro was sitting nonchalantly on the swivel chair in Tsuna's cabin while looking through some of the papers and folders in the brunette's desk. Tsuna never explained to Mukuro about his own personal alphabet so the illusionist was left to stare blankly at the pages he could not decipher.

Mukuro placed the papers and folders back in the desk just in time for Tsuna to slam the door open. The illusionist watched amusedly as Tsuna stormed up to him in fury. Mukuro had an idea of why Tsuna was angry.

"Mukuro," Tsuna began when he stopped walking in front of the illusionist. "You know it couldn't hurt to at least leave a message for Chrome and the others telling them where you were going or that you were leaving in the first place."

"It wouldn't be as fun," Mukuro replied with a smirk forming on his face at seeing how irritated Tsuna was becoming. "But what's with those bandages?"

"I should ask you why you're up and walking. I know you placed an illusion over yourself to appear fine, but you're the exact opposite. As for me, I got into an incident but I got healed so I'm fine now," Tsuna said while crossing his arms. "Anyway, what is it that you want to talk about?"

"No idle chatter?" Mukuro questioned. Tsuna glared back in answer. "Alright. You must be wondering about what happened on Sunday. I was possessing a servant in the Varia Mansion in order to spy on Xanxus, but I was attacked."

"By who?" Tsuna asked, the anger slowly turning into concern.

"By the Millefiore and Xanxus," Mukuro replied with his eyes showing irritation. Now it was his turn to be aggravated. "The Boss of the Millefiore, Byakuran, somehow knew that I was possessing the servant and told Xanxus that I planned on serving him poisoned beef fillet. Both of them attacked me with their flames."

"Well, were you planning that?" Tsuna questioned him.

"No. At least not yet," Mukuro replied. Tsuna shook his head to refrain from hitting Mukuro upside the head.

"And you couldn't dodge it or even release your possession on the servant?" Tsuna asked.

"I tried releasing the possession but it didn't work. The attack was too quick, especially from Byakuran," the illusionist growled out. Tsuna closed his eye in order to think clearly. If Mukuro was admitting this much, Byakuran must be extremely powerful. But what was Byakuran doing with the Varia?

"Mukuro, do you know why Byakuran was there?" Tsuna asked.

"It seems like the Millefiore are making their move by attacking the Varia. Most of the Varia were either killed or unconscious by the time I was attacked," Mukuro answered. "It won't be surprising if Xanxus lost to Byakuran."

Tsuna looked at Mukuro in disbelief. Xanxus, leader of Vongola's own elite independent assassination squad, lost to Byakuran. How was Byakuran able to keep a low profile all this time? What was Byrakuran's goal in the first place? Then Tsuna remembered about the last time he heard about the Millefiore.

"I rejected Byakuran's offer to join the Millefiore. Could he have found out that I was connected to the Vongola and decided to attack the Varia because of it?" Tsuna went through the possibility of that happening. It was not zero percent so there was always a chance.

"Kufufu, you always have a knack for getting lost in thought. From what I know, Byakuran was targeting the Vongola from his own accord and started from the Varia. He could care less if you are from the Vongola," Mukuro said. Tsuna was snapped out from his thoughts and looked at Mukuro who now seemed serious. "He might target you as Vongola Decimo. If you see him, run away. You are no match for him."

Tsuna stared at the heterochromatic eyes, which displayed no amusement. It was somewhat difficult to accept that Byakuran was simply that powerful for Mukuro to admit that both of them were weaker and were no match for the Millefiore Boss. It was difficult to accept but Mukuro fought Tsuna enough times, even though the illusionist lost, to know how strong Tsuna was. The brunette knew that Mukuro knew his fighting strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else. It was unnerving to hear this from Mukuro.

"So do you think the Vongola has a chance against the Millefiore?" Tsuna asked.

"The Millefiore is split into two groups: the Black Spell and the White Spell. The Black Spell was originally the Giglio Nero Family, and I heard that many of them hate Byakuran. So if the Black Spell revolts against the White Spell, it would give Vongola the chance to attack them at their weakest," Mukuro said. When the illusionist noticed that Tsuna had not responded, he looked up at Tsuna's face only to see that the brunette's expression was unreadable behind the brown bangs. Mukuro frowned upon that, already knowing the reason behind Tsuna's silence. "You're still naive as always. But you have to know that there is no way to avoid a war. You can't avoid any deaths this time."

* * *

Omake:

"No idle chatter?" Mukuro questioned. Tsuna glared back in answer. "Alright. You must be wondering about what happened on Sunday. I was possessing a servant in the Varia Mansion in order to spy on Xanxus, but I was attacked."

"By who?" Tsuna asked, the anger slowly turning into concern.

"By the Millefiore and Xanxus," Mukuro replied with his eyes showing irritation. Now it was his turn to be aggravated. "The Boss of the Millefiore, Byakuran, somehow knew that I was possessing the servant and told Xanxus that I planned on serving him poisoned beef fillet. Both of them attacked me with their flames."

(_flashback)_

Mukuro possessed a servant boy who had the current duty of delivering food to the Varia. Today, he had been assigned to deliver food to Xanxus.

His eyebrow twitched in annoyance at overhearing the other servants talk about him.

"Do you think we'll have to prepare another funeral?"

"I feel bad for the boy. He shouldn't have chosen to do this job."

"I hope I won't take his place once Xanxus-sama is done with him."

It was well known within the Varia Mansion that dealing with Xanxus concerning food was as close as dealing with the Grim Reaper. If you were lucky, you lived. If you were not, you were out of commission.

_Those petty humans, underestimating me…_ Mukuro continued to walk down the hallway while carrying a tray with expensive mouthwatering food with a glass of wine at the side.

The illusionist approached the door and knocked against the wood. Then he opened it after hearing a grunt on the other side. On the opposite side of the door sat Xanxus on a leather chair with his legs propped on top of the desk. The Varia leader was lazily drinking from a bottle of tequila. "What is it?"

"Xanxus-sama, I brought you dinner of the top-quality lamb in all of Italy," Mukuro said before walking towards Xanxus.

The Varia leader looked at the food before taking the glass of wine once it was within reach. Then he threw the glass at Mukuro's head. "Scum, I want to eat beef."

"Yes Xanxus-sama," replied Mukuro before he retreated out of the room. Once the door was closed, Mukuro gritted his teeth and was tempted to use his eye of the six paths of reincarnation.

The next time Mukuro came to Xanxus's room he brought along beef sirloin with another glass of wine. His hair was still soaked from the previous wine.

"What is it?" Xanxus asked once more.

"Xanxus-sama," Mukuro gritted out between teeth. "This is Japanese beef sirloin. It is the-"

Before Mukuro got to finish, Xanxus threw a bottle of tequila at Mukuro's head. "Scum, I want beef fillet."

"Yes Xanxus-sama," Mukuro forced out before retreating. Once he was far away from Xanxus's room, Mukuro threw the tray onto the floor and started stomping on it to vent out his frustration. "Kufufu. The next time he does that, I don't care about keeping my identity a secret."

The third time Mukuro came to Xanxus's room he noticed that the hallways were strangely empty. He shrugged it off as the servants being called to deal with another Varia member.

Mukuro entered the room while holding tightly onto the tray so that his knuckles were white. He wanted to throw the tray onto Xanxus's head. "What is it?"

"This is beef fillet. It is what you requested," Mukuro said. He walked closer to Xanxus while contemplating on his previous desire of throwing the tray at Xanxus. However, a voice was heard in the room that did not belong to Mukuro or Xanxus.

"Did I interrupt your dinner, Xanxus-kun?" Someone with white hair and purple eyes with a tattoo under the left one appeared. Mukuro recognized him immediately. "Hello there. I know who you are, Mukuro-kun, so you can drop the illusion."

Mukuro looked at Byakuran suspiciously but dropped his illusion. A swirling indigo mist surrounded the servant's body and disappeared to reveal the illusionist.

"Kufufu, it's such a pleasure to meet the Millefiore Boss," Mukuro said sarcastically. Byakuran gave a smile in return while his eyes showed mischievousness.

"Oh my, Xanxus-kun. It looks like Mukuro-kun was going to poison you with the beef fillet," Byakuran said with faked surprise. Mukuro continued to look at Byakuran suspiciously before turning around when he heard Xaxnus speak.

"Scum, you expect me to eat this shit?" Xanxus said. The Varia leader pulled out his two X-guns and aimed at Mukuro. "Die trash!"

"Let me help you with that," Byakuran said while getting ready to launch his own attack.

In the end, Mukuro was unsuccessful at getting Xanxus to eat anything. But that was considered normal within the Varia Mansion since Xanxus wanted Varia quality food. Too bad for Mukuro that it doesn't exist.

* * *

A/N: You guys waited so long for this chapter and here it is! However, I don't think I'll be able to update weekly anymore because of school. I was only able to update today because I have Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off. I'll try to update as much as possible but it'll be extremely slow.

How'd you like the omake? It's my first time making an omake so I'll love to hear your opinion. And as you can see, I finally made a cover for this fanfic! I do not own the flowers in the background of the picture since it's from KHR volume 26 cover I slightly edited.


	16. Chapter 16 Preparations For A Cruise

A/N: Thank you to Akainokami, Mockingjay Rose, Secret29, shirokuromokona, and ezcap1st for your reviews!

Thank you to those who reviewed, put the story on favorite, and followed the story! Oh, and thank you to the ones who put me as their favorite author/ author alert!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 16:

Preparations For A Cruise

The bed felt heavenly with the soft mattress underneath him, letting his body sink into it. His head moved from the fluffy pillow to under the warm blanket lying protectively over him. He wanted to escape from the faint increase in lighting.

"Dame-Tsuna."

The voice sounded so far away. He did not want to wake up yet so he curled up under his blanket.

"Baka-Tsuna, wake up."

The voice sounded threatening enough for him to shudder. It did not help that he felt a murderous aura coming from the voice. However, he still did not want to get up. When was the last time he had the chance to sleep in?

Suddenly his intuition screamed at him to move. He wanted to ignore it but that would only cause a headache. Tsuna reluctantly opened his eyes only to see a familiar green mallet coming his way.

"Itte!" Tsuna closed his eyes and rubbed his head to soothe the pain. He had forgotten the reason sleeping in was no longer an option. He opened his eyes again to see the number one sleep-depriver wearing a smirk. "You love using your weapons, don't you?"

The smirk stayed on the infant's face. "Of course." Tsuna tried glaring at Reborn but could not bring himself to so early in the morning. "Pack your things. You and Mama are going on a cruise ship."

The brunette moved his blankets away and sat up while Reborn leapt off the bed. "Didn't you say that you'd train me?" Tsuna sat staring at the infant. Despite that he only knew Reborn for a week and a half, the brunette knew that Reborn was not one to go back on his word when it concerned training.

"I did," Reborn said. Even though Reborn had his back facing the brunette, Tsuna knew that the infant was still smirking. That unnerved Tsuna._Just what is he planning?_ "Get ready in five minutes or else there won't be any breakfast for you."

Tsuna watched the infant leave and sighed. He should always suspect nothing when it concerned Reborn since anything and everything the infant planned was absurd.

The brunette rubbed his arms, making sure that the previous day's events were not his imagination. His arms were completely healed which would also mean his entire body was healed. _How strong was that sun flame?_

He thought back to the time when he met with Mukuro yesterday with a frown making its way onto his face. The attack on the Varia happened on Sunday yet Reborn said nothing to him. Tsuna could not blame Reborn since he had tried to avoid the infant. Maybe if he tried to ask the infant if anything happened in Italy, Reborn might tell him? _Not if I want to die._

Tsuna shook his head. He had to prepare for the cruise ship.

* * *

When Tsuna was walking down the stairs towards the kitchen with his luggage in hand, he heard a booming voice.

"Sawada, let me help you with that!" He paused on the steps of the stairs and stared at the owner of the voice. The owner of the voice came closer to Tsuna, and his intuition told him to move out of the way. However it was too late.

"Onii-san, put me down!" Tsuna was thrown over Ryohei's shoulder like a sack of rice while the boxer picked up the brunette's luggage in his right hand. In a desperate effort to be placed back down onto the floor, Tsuna began to hit Ryohei's back. Halfway to the kitchen, he gave up.

"Tsu-kun, how was your sleep?" Nana asked as she saw her son enter with Ryohei. That was when Nana realized that her family was growing larger. Tsuna now had an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister. Perhaps when Nana saw Yamamoto and Gokudera, she would consider them as Tsuna's siblings.

When Ryohei finally put Tsuna down onto the kitchen chair, the brunette straightened out his clothes and spoke. "It was fine." Then he turned towards Ryohei. "But was that necessary?"

Ryohei sat down on the chair to Tsuna's left. "Kyoko told me that you were extremely hurt yesterday! But you don't look injured?" Ryohei said while examining Tsuna once more. Indeed, the brunette did not look injured. The only thing that would indicate so was the bruise forming on Tsuna's head from Reborn's mallet.

"I'm fine now. I was healed by..." Tsuna looked to Reborn, not wanting to use that name. However, he resigned himself to use that name when Ryohei was looking at him curiously. "I was healed by Doctor Reboreen. By the way, how was the boxing training camp? Weren't you supposed to come back in four more days?"

Tsuna picked up his chopsticks and began to eat his breakfast of a simple bowl of rice and fish. His fingers twitched when he saw that the fish was tuna. Nana was standing innocently to the side and saw that her son was staring at the tuna. A thought crossed her mind. What was the nickname Iemitsu used to call Tsuna?

"I was sent back early since I defeated everyone, including the trainers!" Ryohei said before digging into his own meal. Reborn looked at Ryohei; a mischievous glint in his eyes. Looks like Reborn found another candidate to be in Tsuna's Famiglia.

The brunette was not surprised by Ryohei's answer. He always knew that Ryohei was going to be the best in boxing at the rate Ryohei was going. However, he believed that Ryohei should rest once in awhile. It would help alleviate Kyoko's worries.

Tsuna looked to Reborn to see the mischievous glint in the infant's eyes. Feeling a bit perturbed, Tsuna looked away to Nana. He also saw a mischievous glint in her eyes. He gulped; whenever he saw that glint in his mother's eyes, it wasn't good.

"Tsu-kun, what was the nickname Iemitsu used to call you when you were younger?" Nana said while tapping her chin thoughtfully. Tsuna gulped with his face already starting to heat up. "Ah, that's right. It was Tu-"

"Kaa-san!" Tsuna interrupted with his face growing a darker shade of red. He did not want Reborn to get any ideas on a new nickname. However, he could tell that Reborn already had the idea.

Ryohei looked at him in confusion. "What? Do you mean Tuna-fish?" Immediately afterwards, Tsuna stood up from his seat and exited the kitchen. His breakfast was left forgotten with chopsticks messily placed on the table in the rush. Ryohei stared at where Tsuna left, and then up at Nana in confusion. "What was extremely wrong with that nickname?"

Nana only shook her head while Reborn continued to smirk. It was clearly seen that Reborn was laughing even though he was not.

Tsuna hid his eyes with his bangs to try to hide his expression. It felt close to forever since he had last heard that nickname, but he did not miss it. The last time he was addressed that way was the last time Iemitsu came home, right before his father left again.

The brunette opened the sliding door and walked onto the lawn, which was located in the front of the house. The lawn had been freshly cut with little droplets of dew on each blade of grass, which was slowly drying. Nevertheless, Tsuna lied down onto the grass with his eyes looking up towards the sky, not caring if his back became wet.

How many years ago did his Tou-san say that nickname he dreaded so much? It was about three years ago when he was ten years old. Tsuna had already been involved in the Mafia for three years at the time and had succeeded in keeping it a secret from his father. However, the promise he made with his father that day was something he still held dear and was the reason why he took any promise to heart.

_(flashback)_

A ten-year old Tsuna shifted his position on a tree branch, careful to not make too much noise. He placed his earphones on so that he could listen to his parent's conversation that was possible due to the listening device he placed on the door. He brought up his binoculars and readjusted it so that he could clearly see his parents. There must have been a reason why they wanted him to sleep early and for them to stay awake at an hour before midnight.

Iemitsu had his construction uniform on with a pickaxe in his right hand. Nana had on casual clothing but her face exemplified a woman in love. Tsuna knew that his parents loved being romantic and had tried not to think too much on their nicknames for each other.

"I'm going, Nana," Iemitsu said with his body slightly turned towards her. The construction helmet caused a shadow to drop over his eyes. _It makes things seem more dramatic,_ Tsuna noted mentally.

"Yes, dear," Nana replied. She was watching him with eyes that expressed her desire for her husband to stay. However, she knew she could not stop him. Iemitsu was adventurous and loved the outdoors. His work would provide him with that so she believed she had no say. _Poor kaa-san,_Tsuna thought.

As if sensing how hard it was for Nana to see him leave, Iemitsu said, "Nana, you like men who are romantic, right?" Iemitsu already knew the answer and was proven right with Nana's response.

"Yes." Her hands were clasped together and held near her chest.

"Then tell Tsuna that I disappeared and became a star in the sky or something. That way, it sounds more romantic," Iemitsu continued with a grin. Nana's eyes sparkled and brought her hands closer to her in glee.

"Oh my!" Nana remarked with her face lit up with amazement. Iemitsu always knew what to say to make Nana feel a surge of warmth. Even though his back was facing her, Iemitsu knew the expression Nana was making. It brought him great joy to know that.

"See ya." Iemitsu began walking away from Nana and the house. Tsuna slowly lowered his binoculars and took off his earphones. He knew that Nana's gaze would stay on Iemitsu until his father was no longer in sight. Then his mother would continue to stay outside for about ten more minutes before heading back inside the house.

He let out a silent sigh; Iemitsu never knew how much Nana would miss him. Tsuna climbed down the tree after putting away his earphones and binoculars. He landed gently onto the ground before waiting behind the corner where his father would turn.

Iemitsu did not turn around to look back at Nana in order to add a romantic effect. Instead, he kept looking forward with his mind set on wondering how many more years would pass before he would be able to see his wife and son again. His body was on autopilot so when he turned the corner, he did not realize until too late that someone was standing there.

Iemitsu felt something collide with him but only noticed whom it was when he looked down. "Tsuna?"

Iemitsu had knocked down Tsuna to the ground. Tsuna did not expect it to hurt too much, but he slightly winced when he sat up. He looked up to his father and saw that Iemitsu was about to say more. Quickly Tsuna placed his index finger in front of his lips to convey the message to stay quiet. Silently, Tsuna stood up and motioned for his father to follow him. The brunette knew that Nana was still outside so talking there would bring an unwanted conversation to his mother's ears. He did not want to get in trouble with Nana for climbing out the window again.

Iemitsu was a bit stunned that he could not detect his son's presence. He was confident that he was able to sense even the tiniest amount of someone's aura, but Tsuna seemed to have no aura. It was perfectly hidden and Iemitsu had to wonder if his son was doing it accidentally or purposely.

He didn't get time to wonder too much on it when Tsuna suddenly tugged on his sleeve. Iemitsu looked down and saw that his son was pointing at something. He looked to where Tsuna was pointing and saw a small cake shop. Iemitsu gave his son a questioning gaze, but Tsuna ignored it when he pushed the doors to the shop open.

Tsuna walked towards the table at the corner of the room where there was the least amount of people. The cake shop was open this late in celebration of its fifth year in business. The cakes and confectionaries were sold for half price and the store was open for the entire day. There were some people at different tables eating the cakes. Most of them were couples celebrating an event or out on a date.

Iemitsu followed Tsuna and sat down on the chair across from the brunette. The questioning gaze had yet to disappear. Tsuna looked at Iemitsu with eyes that analyzed and judged his father. Coming to a conclusion, Tsuna finally spoke. "Why are you leaving now?"

Iemitsu looked at Tsuna with a grin coming onto his face. Was Tsuna expressing how much he'd miss his father?

Iemitsu stretched his arm across the table to ruffle his son's brown hair. "I have to leave for work. There aren't enough people to direct the penguins at the construction site," Iemitsu said. Tsuna looked at his father with incredulous eyes. There was no way Tsuna was going to believe that.

"That's not what I mean. Why are you leaving today? Tomorrow is your and kaa-san's wedding anniversary. She was always dreaming about spending that day with you or did you forget?" Tsuna questioned. His eyes, which were locked onto Iemitsu's, expressed all the seriousness he could muster. Iemitsu stopped ruffling his son's hair and had to look at Tsuna's expression. It felt like he was being interrogated, not by a ten year old but by someone with experience.

But this was still his son. He broke out into another grin, which confused Tsuna. "Of course I didn't forget. It would be so much harder for me to leave if I stayed to celebrate. That's why I want to transfer some of my responsibility to you whenever I'm gone," Iemitsu began. Tsuna continued to look at Iemitsu in confusion. Iemitsu felt a bit relieved that his son stopped with the previous expression. He would have to get his son to loosen up a bit and stop being serious all the time. "When I'm not here, I want you to become the man of the house and protect Nana."

Iemitsu began to ruffle Tsuna's hair again, but Tsuna moved his head back to avoid the hand. "I'm not doing all the work," Tsuna said. He stared into his father's eyes once again. "Once a week to once a month, call kaa-san. It'll help her a lot."

Iemitsu still had the wide grin on his face. "Then I'll protect her emotionally. Of course I'll try to protect both of you, but it'll be difficult when I'm not around. So when I'm not here, protect her physically. Promise?" Iemitsu said.

Iemitsu extended his hand with his pinky finger out. Tsuna stared at the finger, not knowing how to react. He was far too used to reading about people sealing a promise with a handshake. To Tsuna, it seemed more professional and it made both parties take the promise seriously. A pinky swear, however, made Tsuna question if his father was taking it seriously. Nevertheless, Tsuna made his pinky finger intertwine with his father's.

"Pinky swear. If you break the promise, I'll make you drink 1000 needles. Pink swear," Iemitsu chanted. "Tuna-fish, I'll be depending on you." Tsuna retracted his hand, not before pressing a nail into his father's skin for the nickname. Then he stood up from his seat.

"Now can you buy kaa-san a cake for tomorrow? It'll make her much happier," Tsuna said. The purpose for bringing his father to the cake shop was so that Iemitsu could buy Nana a cake. It was what Tsuna had planned to do after seeing Nana daydream so much after receiving the post card from Iemitsu.

_(flashback end)_

"Give it back!" The voice snapped Tsuna out of his memory. He sat up and could hear a familiar laughter that was coming closer. It brought him some pain at remembering the broken promise with Lambo. Nevertheless, he pushed the feeling to the side as his attention was focused on the child coming towards him.

"This is Lambo-san's now!" Lambo came running with a book too big for him to carry as the cow-child stumbled to the side a couple times. A child with light brown hair and a scarf came running after Lambo. The cow-child saw Tsuna and ran to hide behind him. "Lambo-san found this so this is Lambo-san's now! Right Tsuna?"

Tsuna saw the young child with the scarf look at him with pleading eyes. Tsuna let out a sigh. He did not need to see those types of eyes to agree. "Lambo, give the book back. It's not yours."

Lambo looked at Tsuna with a pleading expression of his own. "But I found it so it's Lambo-san's," Lambo said. Tsuna turned around so that it was easier to see the cow-child.

"Lambo, do you have candy with you?" Tsuna asked. Lambo nodded and his hand rummaged inside his hair before taking out three pieces of candy. "How would you feel if you misplaced the candy only to find out that someone took it?"

"I would just ask Mama for candy," Lambo replied. Tsuna shook his head disapprovingly before continuing his talk.

"What if there was no more candy left in the house and all the stores ran out of candy? How would you feel?" Tsuna asked. Lambo thought about it and imagined what it would be like. Tsuna knew that the message was getting across to the cow-child when Lambo started to look upset. "So return the book to its owner. You would want the person who took your candy to give it back to you, right?"

Lambo reluctantly nodded his head and started walking towards the boy. He returned the book back. "Lambo-san is sorry," the cow-child muttered before returning back to Tsuna's side. The boy with the scarf looked happy at the return of his book, but then he looked up at Tsuna.

"You're Tsuna-nii, right? I've been calling you Tsuna-nii. Can I keep calling you that?" the boy asked. Tsuna decided to just nod his head, which earned him a bright smile from the boy. "My name is Fuuta de la Stella. Please, Vongola Tenth, Tsuna-nii! Can you please help me? There's a Mafia Family coming after me."

Tsuna first had surprise and shock marring his face, which was quickly turned into confusion. "Why me, Ranking Prince Fuuta? I'm sure there's someone who is better suited to protect you. You should have your rankings to decide that," he said.

"I did use my rankings," Fuuta replied causing Tsuna to slightly flinch in surprise. He wasn't able to defeat the Macchina hitmen so how was he supposed to help Fuuta? "According to my rankings, you are placed last when it comes to motivation to steal my book out of 872 Mafia Bosses."

_So that's why._ "That's only because I don't like rankings since a lot of them can change anytime so the information is only accurate for a certain amount of time," Tsuna replied. _Besides, I don't have much interest in them._ Fuuta only shook his head.

"The ranking planet said that you're ranked first in terms of being able to help me. You're also ranked first in being the person I can trust out of 872 Mafia Bosses," Fuuta countered. Tsuna looked at the boy, unsure. He did not want to disappoint Fuuta if the outcome of the incident with Lambo was the outcome of him trying to protect Fuuta. When he saw the pleading look return to Fuuta's eyes, he wanted to accept if it could relieve some of the paranoia of the boy.

"Do you know which Mafia Family is after you?" Tsuna asked. Fuuta nodded before he spoke the name the brunette was not expecting at all.

"The Bovino Family."

* * *

"Can you tell me more about Tsuna's nickname?" Reborn asked; he could not resist knowing more after seeing his student's reaction. Ryohei looked at Nana for permission who nodded in return. Ryohei smiled, happy to talk about that incident which Tsuna prohibited him from ever speaking of.

"When Sawada was eight years old, Kyoko introduced me to him. They had already been friends for one year along with Hana. I extremely heard Kyoko wrong when she said Sawada's name so I accidentally called him Tuna," Ryohei said with a grin at the memory. "Sawada's tou-san was around and he heard it. That was when Sawada was called Tuna-fish."

Reborn nodded his head while writing the information down. This was the type of blackmail material Reborn was waiting for. If Tsuna was to continue with the same reaction at the nickname, Reborn was sure that it would help Tsuna go along with the training plan the infant came up with. His eyes gleamed; it would definitely help with _that_ part of the training.

"Tsu-kun never really liked to be called that," Nana began. "For the first couple of times when Iemitsu called him Tuna-fish, Tsu-kun didn't do anything. But then after awhile Tsuna-kun became annoyed and started playing pranks on Iemitsu."

"What kind of pranks?" Reborn asked before taking Tsuna's abandoned breakfast. Nana thought back to the past with a finger tapping on her chin.

"The first time was when Tsu-kun placed catnip on Iemitsu and about fifty cats attacked him. The second time was when Tsu-kun and Iemitsu were camping. Iemitsu said that Tsu-kun ran off into the forest where he lead Iemitsu to the missing bear from the zoo. The third time included piranhas and a lake," Nana answered with her counting off using her fingers. Ryohei nodded his head while he was also remembering those times.

"Sawada can tame any animal! He even let me fight with a kangaroo at the zoo," Ryohei said. Reborn had a notion at the reason why Tsuna would let Ryohei do that after listening to what Tsuna did to Iemitsu. But Reborn knew that Tsuna would not be able to do that to him. Instead, it would be the other way around.

Reborn knew to stop asking any more questions about Tsuna's nickname when he felt the presence of three people walking where his student had left. Now he could hear the sound of feet pattering on the floor and the rustle of clothes.

"Kaa-san, we have a guest," Tsuna said as he walked into the kitchen. The brunette took note that his breakfast was gone but did not care at the moment. He had a more important matter at the moment. "His name is Fuuta."

Fuuta was holding Tsuna's left hand while his other hand held his ranking book. Lambo was standing on the other side of Tsuna, looking interested at the smell of food. Fuuta looked around the room to see three people. He recognized one of them as Reborn, the world's greatest hitman and previous tutor of Dino before leaving to train Tsuna. Fuuta looked at Ryohei and Nana. They both had welcoming smiles on their faces and something about them seemed warm compared to the cold demeanor of the Mafiosi coming after the boy. Fuuta gave a shy smile; he knew he could trust these people.

"Hello Fuuta. My name is Sawada Nana, Tsu-kun's kaa-san," Nana introduced gleefully. "This infant is Reborn-kun and this is Ryohei. Tsu-kun, where did you meet this boy?"

In the corner of his eye, Tsuna saw Lambo drift towards the table where breakfast was located. He saw the cow-child going unintentionally close to Reborn's part of the table and knew that Reborn did not want the cow-child in his personal space. So Tsuna quickly extended his hand to grab onto Lambo's small left hand and pulled the child back. "I knew Fuuta after I helped him sometime ago. I met him today right outside the house, and he wanted my help," Tsuna said. He gave a half-lie where the part of meeting Fuuta before was false; he could not explain to his mother that he suddenly agreed to Fuuta's request without giving the reason why. Then he prepared himself to give another lie. "Fuuta's parents are working overseas so he lives alone. His house was set on fire and now he has nowhere to live. Can he stay with us?"

Nana looked at the young boy in sympathy with the warmth of the fire of determination flashing through her eyes. She seemed ready to hug the boy and hold him close so that it might be easier to help Fuuta with the boy close by. Tsuna bit his tongue at the look; he was using his mother's kind and gentle personality to his advantage by lying to her. Sure it was necessary at times in order to keep her out of the Mafia as much as possible but seeing that expression on her face struck him hard. It made him realize that he had lied to her countless times in no hesitation just so that he could keep his Mafia life a secret. Even with that reason, it did not change the fact that he lied shamelessly to her. That he was a liar like his father.

"Of course! Fuuta can live with us for as long as he wants!" Nana beamed and then looked back at the boy. "But it's an unlucky time for this since we'll be going on the cruise ship today..."

Tsuna looked back down at Fuuta. He promised to protect the boy from the Bovino Family, the Family that was now overtaken by Bovino's traitor who wanted Lambo dead. He could not leave Fuuta; he could not break another promise since who knows what would happen this time?

Reborn seemed to know about the turmoil in Tsuna, so he spoke. "I have another ticket for the cruise ship, so you can take Fuuta with you." Fuuta's face lightened up instantly with a smile full of gratitude appearing onto his face. Tsuna gave his own smile as he saw the joy and hope surging through the Ranking Prince's eyes, joy for being accepted so quickly and hope that the Bovino would no longer be a worry with Tsuna by his side. Despite that Reborn was very sadistic with creativity running through the torture ideas, the brunette could say he was grateful for the infant at this moment. Last week Tsuna would never think of thanking the infant, but now he had a reason, like with yesterday, to say his thanks.

"Thank you Reborn-kun. It seems like we're lucky," Nana said. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes, so I'll go upstairs to pack Fuuta some of Tsu-kun's old clothes to wear. You don't mind do you, Tsu-kun?" Tsuna shook his head; it was indeed fortunate that Nana kept Tsuna's old clothes in the attic, mostly for the reason that she could never make herself throw the clothes away. "Then you should place your luggage in the car, and when I get back, we'll leave."

Tsuna did not know what car she was referring to since they did not own one when the last one broke down last month. So he was tempted to go outside to check what car his mother was referring to when Lambo pulled his arm.

"Lambo-san wants to come!" the cow-child whined as he latched himself to Tsuna's leg. Tsuna really wanted to question when Lambo grew so attached since the cow-child had previously hated him. Perhaps it was after the incident with the Macchina hitmen.

The brunette looked down at those large pleading sea-green eyes. It was tempting to agree when Lambo seemed like he was going to be heartbroken if the brunette did not agree. _When did I become so soft?_ Tsuna wondered before an idea hit him. He released Fuuta's hand and picked up Lambo into his arms before placing the cow-child onto one of the chairs at the table. Then he walked over to one of the shelves to grab a jar and presented it to Lambo. It was full of candy.

Lambo's eyes sparkled before he hastily grabbed the jar and tried to pry the lid off. It would take some time for Lambo to take the lid off and even more time to eat all the candy. By then, Tsuna hoped that Nana would come and they would leave.

Tsuna grabbed his luggage in one hand and Fuuta's hand in the other. He glanced at Reborn; he knew that Reborn was going to come onto the cruise ship, but what was that scheming glint in the infant's eyes for? He had a nagging feeling that Reborn was up to something, but he reminded himself that Reborn was almost always up to something. The brunette would not be surprised if the cruise ship dropped him off on an island in the middle of nowhere due to Reborn's request. He hoped that was not it.

* * *

To say that Tsuna was surprised was wrong. Horrified was a better term when he saw that Bianchi was the driver of the car. He did not know if Bianchi still wanted to kill him to free Reborn. She probably did. So Tsuna gingerly placed his luggage in the trunk and very slowly opened one of the doors. He held Fuuta behind him in case Bianchi wanted to lock all the doors and speed off into an accident where the bruntte would miraculously be the only one who got injured. In that case Fuuta would not be in the car and would survive.

Tsuna shook that thought away; he needed to try to be an optimist once in awhile. The brunette entered the car first and immediately noticed that the seats were made of leather with options for it to recline; he hoped the leather did not come from any animal Bianchi used for poison cooking. Fuuta closed the door and sat closer to the brunette, a little wary of Bianchi since he saw Tsuna's stiff shoulders.

The three of them sat in silence with Bianchi occasionally glancing at the rear-view mirror. Fuuta looked at Tsuna from time to time before inevitably loosing interest in the awkward silence. The boy looked to his left at the car door and noticed some hidden compartments. Curiosity taking over, the boy opened one of them and found a stack full of poison cooking recipes. Fuuta was tempted to ask the Ranking Planet to rank which recipe was the most poisonous. However, he decided not to when Tsuna was so cautious.

Bianchi gave a long sigh, bringing Tsuna's attention to her. "Tsuna, may I talk to you privately?" Bianchi asked. The brunette nodded his head, aware that Bianchi was looking at the rear-view mirror. He looked at Fuuta and saw the boy's questioning gaze. Should Fuuta leave the car or stay? Which was safer?

"Let's talk outside. Fuuta, stay here," Tsuna said before opening the door to the right. Fuuta nodded his head and watched them leave the car; should he ask the Ranking Planet now?

"Tsuna, have you wondered why Reborn did not do anything after the incident on Sunday?" Bianchi asked as she leaned against the car, arms folded. She kept her gaze on the brunette who walked over to her on the left side of the car.

"Of course. He didn't seem to know what happened. Care to explain?" Tsuna asked with his gaze on Bianchi. Whether or not to treat Bianchi as a friend or enemy would be decided in this conversation, so inevitably there had to be tension.

Bianchi wanted to question the brunette on his forgetfulness but decided against it. Who knows how much time they had before Nana was done packing? "I did not tell Reborn and up till now I was contemplating if I should keep it a secret," Bianchi said, which earned a raised eyebrow from Tsuna. "I decided not to tell Reborn, but you first must agree with this condition. You must inform me of everything you are doing that you have kept a secret from Reborn. I will not tell him what it is unless I deem that what you are doing will bring a negative effect on him or the Vongola. If you agree then I will not tell him about your subordinates."

Tsuna noticed that in Bianchi's eyes there was not a single cloud of hesitation, only confidence. There was no desperation, only determination. Her shoulders expressed her authority with the knowledge that she had control of the deal. Her back was no longer leaning against the car; instead it was straight. No worry, no hesitation, and no desperation. She was confident with a reason. A reason Tsuna was not too keen on.

If Tsuna agreed, his secret will stay a secret from the majority of the Mafia World. Only Bianchi would be informed, and the brunette was sure that what he was doing would not bring any negative effect on the Vongola. After all, he did not want to die yet. However if Tsuna declined, Bianchi would tell Reborn about everything she witnessed, which would bring all of his efforts up till now to an end. It seemed clear what his answer would be, but he did not know if Bianchi would keep her end of the deal. It was the Mafia after all. But he had a feeling that agreeing would help in more ways than one.

"I agree. However if I were to stumble across an important piece of information that even the Vongola does not know, do not inform Reborn or anyone in the Vongola unless I use that information to negatively impact them. I doubt I would, but you have the final say," Tsuna said. He was sure he signed up for more trouble but trouble already came into his life in the form of Reborn.

"Alright. Tell me everything later; Mama is coming," Bianchi said before opening the car door and slipping inside. Tsuna watched as the front door of his house opened with his mother coming out with three bags.

"Tsu-kun, can you help me put these into the car?" Nana called as she took careful steps forward, so she would not suddenly trip and fall. Tsuna walked over, wondering why she would have three bags. Nevertheless, he took two of the bags from his mother's arms. "I couldn't decide which clothes to pack so I took all of your favorites."

Tsuna sighed; his mother actually meant _her_ favorites. No wonder there was three bags full of clothes. He would have to help Fuuta organize the clothes from the most embarrassing to the least.

* * *

A/N: Reviews are appreciated to the extreme!


	17. Chapter 17 Left and Right Hand's

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed the story!

Disclamier: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 17:

Left and Right Hand's Resolution

Today seemed like the epitome of a "perfect" day. The sky held a few passing clouds with the sun warming everyone. It was only morning, so the temperature would rise to be slightly hot in the afternoon, but it would still be comfortable.

Yamamoto stretched his limbs above his head and felt the breeze ruffle his hair. Today definitely felt like it was a good day, but when he glanced at his father, he frowned internally. Today's weather was the same as last Friday's, the day when he was about to jump off the roof. The "perfect" day could be hiding disaster, possibly worse than Friday. He shook his head at the thought and allowed a smile, albeit a bit strained, to fall on to his face. He could not let his father worry too much.

"Hey oyaji. Are you sure you don't mind carrying both of our luggage?" Yamamoto asked, walking closer to his father in case the strain was too much. Tsuyoshi shook his head and let his son see his own smile.

"I'm fine. Besides, I don't want my skills getting too rusty," Tsuyoshi replied with a grin still on his face as he raised the luggage, one case in each hand. As Yamamoto looked at his father a bit longer, he felt the strain in his smile slowly fade away.

"You're going to have to show me some of your kendo skills," Yamamoto said, lifting his arms as he placed his hands behind his head. He let a joyful tone enter his voice. "I wonder if you can beat Tsuna. He did defeat our school's kendo captain."

Tsuyoshi kept his face forward as he tried to maneuver through the crowd to get on to the cruise ship, although his attention remained on his son. Relief flashed through his eyes as he looked over his son, the memories of last week still fresh in his mind.

He knew of Yamamoto's suicide attempt when Tsuna's tutor, Reborn, informed him. He had questioned the worth of an infant's words, but he knew deep down that Reborn held more experience than himself. The maturity surrounding the infant as well as the unmistakable glint of wisdom within the black orbs was the confirming factor. Those eyes had seen war, death, and bloodshed.

Tsuyoshi did not hear his son talk to him about what happened last Friday, but his son's actions were loud and clear. There was shame in Yamamoto's eyes whenever he was around his father's presence. The teen never looked Tsuyoshi in the eye that day or on the weekend either. However, Tsuyoshi did see some sort of spark in those mocha eyes and some confidence in the way his son moved.

To Tsuyoshi, that was better than how his son acted last Friday. It was better than looking into his son's eyes, only to see something dull that reflected the world like a mirror and never what was inside. He knew who was responsible for the fix and could not help but let his eyes light up when Yamamoto came home yesterday with two tickets for a cruise, saying it came from Tsuna, his friend.

Tsuyoshi did not know how he could repay Tsuna but adding discounts and extra sushi the brunette's orders could be a start. Or perhaps he could borrow the ship's kitchen and make a feast of traditional Japanese dishes as thanks. But even then, Tsuyoshi knew that was not enough to express his gratitude to the brunet.

"Oi Takeshi, why don't you go ahead and meet up with that friend of yours? I'm sure he'll be happy to see you," Tsuyoshi said. His son's eyes seemed to light up at the thought, but Yamamoto did not move away so suddenly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help?" Yamamoto questioned. Tsuyoshi shook his head and watched silently in amusement as his son rushed through the crowd. He really had to do something for Tsuna; his son's smiles were now accompanied by smiling eyes.

Yamamoto could feel joy flowing through his veins as he rushed through the crowd of people and towards the ship. He said a couple of apologies when he bumped into people; however, his smile never left his face.

It felt refreshing and energizing to be around Tsuna; a complete difference from his time through his slump. He no longer had to put up with strained smiles and forced laughter. He found something real within the world of lies; a person he could truly hang out with. Tsuna was the person he hoped to be able to spend time with like any teenager – going to arcades, watching fireworks, or having a sleepover. He knew that within those moments, he would be able to take off his mask and laugh full-heartedly.

Yamamoto knew he was not the only one to realize that dream could become a reality. He saw the hopeful lights shine in Gokudera's eyes. Despite not knowing what Gokudera had to experience in Italy, Yamamoto sensed the genuine bliss radiating from the silver-haired. He knew that they both experienced the same gratitude towards Tsuna. Yamamoto could only hope they could get Tsuna to experience the same joy they felt.

He could see ahead within the crowd a line of smoke that was traced to the cigarette in the hands someone with familiar silver hair. Yamamoto's smile turned into a grin as he increased his pace. "Yo Gokudera! Have you seen Tsuna?"

Gokudera quickened his pace, wanting to flee from unnecessary talk with the baseball player. It seemed futile when he felt a hand grip his left shoulder. He bit back a curse. He should just ignore the baseball player and keep walking. Really, why did Tsuna accept that Yakyuu-baka into the Vongola? Not that he doubted the brunette or anything, but still...

"Gokudera, do you know where Tsuna is?" Yamamoto asked again, deciding that the silver-haired had not heard him before. Gokudera gripped his cigarette and inhaled some of the smoke before releasing it right in Yamamoto's face. A smirk adorned his face, but it turned back into a frown when Yamamoto did not release his hold.

Yamamoto waved the smoke away with his left hand, careful not to inhale any. He moved his left hand so his arm was slung around Gokudera's shoulders, which caused the silver-haired to scowl. "Get your arm off me Yakyuu-baka."

Yamamoto did not comply. "Well, we're family here, right?" Gokudera could only drop his cigarette, mouth open as shock entered his eyes. _Did the Yakyuu-baka finally realize the Mafia is real?_ Yamamoto simply smiled at the response before saying, "I mean, we're still playing the Mafia Game after all."

Gokudera's response was immediate; he grabbed the baseball player by the front of his shirt and scowled once again. Yamamoto could not help but laugh at the quick reaction as he listened to Gokudera say, "The Mafia is not a game."

Although when Yamamoto calmed down from his laughter and looked at the silver-haired's eyes, he could see a raging storm. There was something else within those emeralds, and Yamamoto could feel a sense of insult hiding in the orbs, as if Gokudera was insulted at the notion that the Mafia was a game; that it was something so simple, easy, and fun.

Gokudera released his hold and walked away while muttering. The baseball player had not recognized the language but knew the silver-haired was cursing. Nevertheless, he followed Gokudera, allowing a spark of sorrow to flash in his eyes.

Yamamoto knew the "game" they were playing was real; there was too much harm being done by believing any longer that everything was acting. He had seen with his own eyes the extent of Tsuna's injuries. Although he almost believed that it was by chance an old building collapsed, Haru's guilty cries opened his eyes a little wider. Even after Tsuna had woken up, Haru continued on with the same kind of tears. It was by chance he stumbled upon her in that state.

Yamamoto knew there was something Tsuna was hiding, and he was convince even further that it regarded the Mafia. If anyone knew what the brunette hid, it would be Kyoko and Hana; they were the ones who knew the brunet the longest besides from Nana. The baseball player put his plan in the back of his mind; he would ask them later. After all, he wanted to help Tsuna like how the brunet helped him.

* * *

Gokudera scowled as he increased his pace. He felt his resentment for Yamamoto increase with every step he took. The baseball player was a normal civilian ignorant of the dark world that was the Mafia. Yamamoto could never endured the pain the underground society brought. The light in Yamamoto's eyes would fade and his will would break. He was a weak individual who could never understand the suffering of those in the Cosa Nostra.

Gokudera had originally thought the same for Tsuna when he first looked at the brunette. Tsuna first appeared to be weak, pathetic, and unmotivated in his eyes. It looked as if Tsuna's worst problem was lack of sleep, and that made Gokudera seeth. It was unfair that the Vongola Juudaime would be pampered, and the silver-haired would have sworn that the tenth candidate would cry from pain.

However, he was wrong when Tsuna saved him from his own attack. There was also something he was curious about. How did Tsuna know how to wield a gun effectively when Reborn only recently arrived to train the brunette? Was his Juudaime really that ignorant of the Mafia?

His suspicion continued to be fueled during the past week. Then he knew without a doubt that Tsuna was hiding something from them when he saw the brunette in the hospital. Reborn might have tricked everyone else into thinking that Tsuna was injured because the wind knocked an old building to the ground, but Gokudera was not fooled.

He overheard one of the doctors talk about Haru's state of health; her stomach had been stabbed and there was no way being caught in a collapsing building would cause a precise cut. Tsuna must have encountered some Mafiosi that caused all the injuries, and Reborn most likely had Haru to use the lie.

Gokudera's mood darkened as he opened a door on the cruise ship, and entered the dining area. Did Tsuna not trust him enough? He was Juudaime's right hand man and yet he did not act like one. Perhaps he was not accepted as one? What about Reborn? Did he accept him as Juudaime's right hand man?

Gokudera's hand started to move towards his cigarette pack. He would use the cruise trip as a chance to get to understand Tsuna better, which he hoped would make him a better right-hand.

"Hayato." The word made him pause in his step while his mind tried to remember whose familiar voice it belonged to. He felt it had been years since he last heard the voice.

Gokudera turned around and immediately recognized the pink hair and emerald eyes. His stomach felt ill as his bottled anger reawakened. Bianchi stepped closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder to pacify him. He shrugged the hand off and was about to turn around and leave when his sister spoke.

"Reborn and Tsuna are waiting in the next room." Gokudera clicked his tongue and brushed past Bianchi, not seeing her sympathetic eyes. He ignored the stares some of the people gave him and blocked out the whispers of Smokin' Bomb Hayato. Bianchi followed him while turning her gaze filled with threats towards the rest of the people.

Sitting at the table in the center was Tsuna, Nana, Reborn, and Ranking Prince Fuuta. Gokudera recognized the small blond and recalled the rumors associated with the boy. A boy who possessed access to knowledge unheard of via a book and himself, the Ranking Prince was known as the number one sought after person in the Mafia World.

"Gokudera-kun, what are you doing here?" Tsuna asked when he noticed the silver-haired. He glanced at Reborn who had a slight smirk on his face. Gokudera walked closer to the table and bowed to the brunette.

"Juudaime, Reborn-san gave me the ticket. Did he not tell you?" Gokudera questioned after he lifted his head from the bow. Tsuna shook his head before turning towards the infant who was casually sipping his coffee.

"The rest of your trusted subordinates should be coming soon," Reborn said before stealing a plate from Tsuna. Tsuna's finger twitched as he looked directly at Reborn. If only he could wrap his hands around the infant's neck. He would feel much better.

Gokudera brightened up considerably at Reborn's words; did that mean he was trusted as well? On the other hand, Tsuna felt his mood darken as he glanced between the knife and Reborn.

"I never accepted the position as Vongola Decimo, and I have not accepted anyone as a subordinate either. Besides, who did you pick?" Tsuna felt a bit curious, but he did not enjoy the growing smirk on Reborn's face.

"Gokudera, Yamamoto, Lambo, Ryohei, and Hibari." Tsuna felt his fingers twitch even more, but before he could act on his desire, the door burst open as three people entered the room.

"Lambo-san missed Mama!" Lambo jumped into Nana's arms and clutched her arms. His panicked mind eased when he felt the familiar warm hand patting his head.

"Lambo-chan, don't run on the ship!" Haru panted as she stopped at the table. Who knew children could run so quickly?

"It's good Lambo has so much energy, and he managed to find Tsuna too!" Yamamoto stood beside Haru and waved at Tsuna with a smile on his face. It was relaxing and peaceful here.

"Tsu-kun, you've made so many new friends. You should have introduced them to me earlier," Nana looked at the newcomers and an idea clicked in her head as she turned her full attention on Haru. "Are you Tsu-kun's girlfriend?"

Lambo looked up at Nana's face to see a gleam of amusement in her eyes. He traced her gaze to Haru whose face resembled a rose and her eyes did not seem to be able to look up. Did she have a fever? Then Lambo turned his head to look at Tsuna when he heard coughing sounds. Was Tsuna sick too?

"It's nice to meet you Sawada-san. My name is Miura Haru." Lambo could see a unique fire light her eyes while the fever seemed to intensify. "I plan to become Tsuna-san's future wife!"

Lambo wondered if a fever could cause delusions. He glanced back at Tsuna who seemed to be choking on something while Gokudera was gently patting the boy's back.

"Tsu-kun, I thought you were interested in Kyoko-chan," Nana hummed while glancing at her son's crimson face.

"Kaa-san!" Tsuna tried to cool his cheeks and steady his gaze, but neither was accomplished. Deciding that his mother would not find as much enjoyment in embarrassing him when he was gone, Tsuna stood up from his seat and headed towards the door with Reborn on his shoulder.

Gokudera was about to follow Tsuna when Nana called out to him. "Are you Bianchi's younger brother? You both have the same type of eyes." Gokudera turned around to face Nana and saw the same knowing look Tsuna sometimes gave him. It was as if Nana wanted to say something that she should not have known, that there was something else her words could be interpreted as. It was as if she wanted to say "You both have the same sadness and burden in your eyes."

But then Nana blinked and the words in her eyes fell silent. "Yeah," Gokudera grumbled out. He held his gaze with Nana to tell her he heard her silent words. Nana returned it with a smile and then broke her gaze as she went to talk with Yamamoto. He felt his loyalty stir inside of him again; Gokudera would defend Tsuna's family and famiglia.

"Tsuna's a great friend. He gave oyaji and I tickets for this cruise," Yamamoto began with a soft smile. "Actually, the kid, Reborn, gave us the tickets, but he said it was from Tsuna so it's the same."

Nana placed her hand against her cheek and gave a sigh of relief. "If he did that, it means he truly treasures you as a friend. Although it's strange for Tsu-kun to not give you the tickets himself," Nana said before a fond smile lit her face. "Tsu-kun might express his gratefulness in strange ways though. For example, whenever Iemitsu would call him by a certain nickname, he would play pranks on his father. No matter how dangerous they were, it would always be filled with a strong bond. Or at least that's what I tell Iemitsu after he was convinced Tsu-kun hated him."

* * *

After Nana told numerous tales about Tsuna, Yamamoto went to the dock of the ship. It had set sail in the middle of Nana's talk and only now did he realize how far from home they were. He felt the beginnings of homesickness creep into his stomach, but he let the wind push them away, letting his mind be clear of anxiety.

From Nana's tales, Yamamoto was able to understand Tsuna a little more. The brunette despised being called "Tuna" or "Tuna-fish" and would not hesitate in getting revenge. He made a mental note to never mispronounce the brunette's name.

As he was enjoying the breeze, he heard water splashing. Perhaps he was lucky enough to see a dolphin? When he reached the side of the ship and leaned forward over the railing, he saw familiar brown hair.

"Reborn! Why did you kick me off the ship?" Tsuna questioned as he tried to stay afloat while the waves fought against him. Reborn watched in amusement as he sat on his Leon raft.

"Swimming helps build muscle as well as strengthen endurance. Think of this as the beginning of your training session," Reborn said. "So swim Tuna-fish."

Yamamoto could see the brunette trying to swim towards Reborn and whenever the brunet got close enough, he would try to swipe towards Reborn's neck. Perhaps Tsuna wanted to give Reborn a hug? Probably not.

"I will extremely save you Sawada!" Yamamoto turned around to see Ryohei charging forward. The boxer leapt over the edge. Yamamoto wanted to turn away when he knew about the pain that would soon come. He could only feel pity when he saw Ryohei sinking in an uncomfortable position, but the boxer moved his limbs in strange ways. Were Ryohei's limbs broken?

"Onii-chan!" Yamamoto glanced to his left and saw Kyoko and Hana approaching the edge. "Onii-chan, how about times have I told you that you can't swim?"

Yamamoto's face paled as he glanced back at the boxer. Tsuna dived to him, but the brunette looked tired at the act. If that was the case, how many times did Tsuna have to save Ryohei from drowning?

"Someone lower the lifeboat so Juudaime won't drown!" Gokudera looked tempted to leap over the edge but knew he was the only one sensible enough to act.

Yamamoto headed towards Gokudera with his smile in place. If it would calm the silver-haired down, he would force an expression. However, Yamamoto knew Gokudera would become infuriated at Yamamoto appearing joyful when Tsuna was in the water. Those bickering moments seemed more peaceful than what his life was when all he truly focused on was baseball. This was the content type of peace.

Standing behind the group was Sawada Nana with Lambo in her arms. Her eyes wandered around the ship, looking at each person that grew closer to her son. Her son was changing, letting this many people near him. This was an improvement from her son six years ago. This time Nana would make sure Tsuna would not have to carry burdens and face trouble alone.

* * *

Gokudera wandered the halls after Tsuna insisted on getting some privacy. The silver-haired knew the events of the day had taken a toll on the brunette so he suggested that his boss should relax until dinner before he was forcefully pushed out of the room.

An hour had passed since then, but his feet did not want to stop walking. His impatience grew with each step he took. Why did he have to wait so long for the training to begin? Did he have to threaten the captain of the ship to sail faster to Mafia Land?

He crushed his cigarette before letting it drop to the floor. Looking up, he barely caught Yamamoto's figure turning the corner. With nothing else to do, he allowed his curiosity to lead him towards the baseball player.

He peered around the corner and saw Yamamoto placing his ear on a door. _Isn't that Juudaime's door?_ He inched closer for his eyes to have a better sight.

At first, Yamamoto seemed to have difficulty listening to what was behind the door although now his form relaxed. It looked like the baseball player succeeded in his goal. However, the next moment his shoulders stiffened and his head jerked away from the door. Whatever he heard had caused the baseball player to stare at the door with his eyes showing he wished the sounds would be a lie. Shaking his head, Yamamoto turned away from the door and was about to leave when he met Gokudera's eyes. They continued to stare, trying to communicate with their eyes. Yamamoto's eyes moved to the right to glance at Tsuna's door and Gokudera felt himself nod. The two walked away in opposite directions. They would discuss matters later in private.

* * *

Yamamoto hurried away from Tsuna's door. His goal was to ask Tsuna if he wanted to play a game with everyone else. It was too simple a task; just knock on the door, wait for Tsuna to answer, and ask the question. Yet he was left with another piece of the puzzle. How large was Tsuna's secret?

Yamamoto was about to knock on the door when he heard a voice that did not belong to Tsuna. He leaned forward with his ear pressed against the door. His neck felt strained so he adjusted his position until he was comfortable enough. The voices were still quiet, but he recognized the speakers as Bianchi and Tsuna.

_"So when you were seven, you were already deeply involved in the Mafia. How long did it take until you understood the gravity of the situation?"_

_"A couple of months. Six years ago I understood what it meant to survive in the Mafia after a certain... incident."_

_"Was it one where you saw red?"_

_"Yeah. I was responsible for causing it, but-"_

Yamamoto shook his head once more. Tsuna, his best friend that saved him from his own path towards suicide, had been treading the path that spelled death for six years. Was there anything he remembered from six years ago concerning Tsuna?

_Six years ago, Kyoko and Hana became Tsuna's friend. The bullying stopped after Tsuna acted for the first time. But before all of that, he said he was in the hospital for three months._

Yamamoto put the pieces together in his head and clenched his fists. He definitely needed to inform Gokudera about this information, but what about Nana? Surely she would know more about Tsuna's first crime or at least noticed any changes during those three months.

"Tsuna, you're not alone in this. Why can't you tell us what's on your mind?" Yamamoto continued running, not knowing where he was heading. He did not notice that Reborn had followed him and heard his outburst.

"The elements are gathering around the far away sky. The rain has started to pour, and the storm has begun to stir. But are these elements with the right sky?" Reborn watched Yamamoto's retreating figure. "Yamamoto has unknowingly passed my test. Now I need to test Gokudera's loyalty. A simple proposal should produce results worth examining."

Reborn looked back down the hall where Tsuna's room was with a frown appearing. "Things are happening too quickly. I need to affirm everyone's loyalty, even Tsuna's. We can't make a mistake here because there is no second chance."


	18. Chapter 18 Memories of Regret

A/N: Thank you BrokenBlackCat, Guest, unfadingpromise, Ziaw, Hamano Chiaki, charm12insomnia, kilala2tail, MissSexyRain, and mariexmarie for your lovely reviews! Thank you for everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

* * *

**Secrets Of A Mafia Boss**

Chapter 18:

Memories of Regret

"Yeah, I was responsible for causing it, but I deeply regret it. It's not something I can ever forget," Tsuna began while staring at his fidgeting hands on his lap as he sat on the bed. Bianchi observed the brunet while she leaned against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. "It's ironic how I loathe the idea of killing yet I'm in the Mafia."

"There are plenty of Mafiosi who hate killing. Besides, you killed those assassins for self-defense. It's not as if you wanted to do it," Bianchi replied while her eyes made note of every flinch or shift, which she could not help but notice from her years in the Mafia. Tsuna's eyes were hidden from her view so she had to determine what the slight trembling of his shoulders or the well-hidden flinch meant without seeing the emotion in his orbs.

The brunet shook his head before returning to stare at his hands. "At the time, I wanted them gone and dead. I only realized what I was doing after I pulled the trigger." Bianchi watched as Tsuna rubbed his hands together, remembering the feeling of blood.

Bianchi took slow steps towards Tsuna. The brunet in front of her was the one who seemed to know her decision on keeping the events of Sunday a secret. He was the one she originally wanted to get rid of and the one she grew wary of. She stopped in front of Tsuna and lifted a hand to ruffle his hair, which was returned with puzzled eyes. He was the one who reminded her of her younger brother: someone who was deeply involved in the Mafia yet still possessed some naivety.

"I want to ask you something else. You said your friends had a meeting and sent you the information. What was the meeting about?" Bianchi asked after pulling her hand away. Tsuna rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his phone. He found Chrome's message and began to skim through it with his face seemingly indifferent.

Bianchi observed the quick change of emotion but did not get to comment when Tsuna tossed his phone to her. "They discussed what happened on Sunday. As I already told you, Mukuro possessed a servant working for the Varia when the Millefiore began their attack. The attack was led by Byakuran and his goal seemed to be taking down the elite force of the Varia and not the lower subordinates. Since the whole Varia was taken down, it looks like their secret infiltration ended up in failure."

Bianchi nodded her head but could not help ask a question. "Why would the Millefiore only target the main branch of the Varia? It should be obvious a fight with someone like Xanxus would be loud and destructive yet they attempt on keeping it a secret." Tsuna could only shake his head in return.

"Shoichi-kun made multiple theories, but there is no solid proof supporting it. Also, none of the theories explain why the Varia weren't killed," Tsuna sighed and began rubbing his temple as he felt a headache creep up. "There's more to the meeting though. Shoichi-kun is our informant since he's the best at hacking, and he discovered information on Byakuran. It looks like his goal is to gather the Mare rings, Vongola rings, and the Arcobaleno pacifiers."

Bianchi stopped scrolling through the message as she let the information sink in. Reborn possessed one of the Arcobaleno pacifiers, which meant he would be involved in the Millefiore's boss' goal. She lifted her head from the phone to look calmly at Tsuna as a thought pushed its way on to her tongue. "Does that have anything to do with your proposal to me? By freeing Reborn, would that mean you would free him from Byakuran's plans?"

Tsuna stared back at Bianchi and she could see no recognition in his eyes, only confusion. As she looked into his caramel orbs, a feeling spread inside her, telling her the one in front of her was not the brunet whose eyes held the orange tinge. He was not the brunet who held the unbearable calmness and his question could only support her feeling. "My proposal? What are you talking about?"

* * *

"Nana-san, I have something important to talk to you about," Yamamoto panted from his run. Nana turned from her conversation with Kyoko and Hana to the baseball player, concern overtaking her expression. "It's about Tsuna."

"Did something happen to Tsuna-kun?" Kyoko asked as she took a step forward in worry. Yamamoto shook his head as he took in a deep breath to fill his lungs.

"I'm just concerned about him. Did something happen six years ago when Tsuna was seven?" Yamamoto questioned as he turned to Nana who looked away. He noticed that Kyoko and Hana shifted uncomfortably at the question. "Please. I want to help."

"I want to help as well." Nana lifted her head to see silver-hair. She could see in the emerald eyes the unwavering resolution and undying loyalty. The same could be said for Yamamoto's eyes.

"I was wondering when you two would say that." Nana turned to Hana who had an approving gaze, which was rare for her. Then that approving gaze shifted into a questioning one when she looked at Kyoko. "But are you okay with them knowing? Sawada only told you and trusts that you keep it a secret. It was difficult enough for you to tell me."

Kyoko stared at the floor with her teeth nibbling her lower lip in concentration. Nana peered at the girl's eyes and saw her ambivalent thoughts turn into a solid determination. "It's alright. There are times when I have to break a promise and now is the time. Tsuna-kun has to learn to trust his friends and family, and I believe Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun deserve his trust."

"When Sawada finds out, he's going to throw a fit," Hana replied with her lips quirking. Kyoko returned it with a smile, although it seemed to be more strained than usual. "Anyway, let's go somewhere more private."

* * *

"Never mind. I mistook you for someone else," Bianchi said, although she knew that was one of the worst things she could say at the moment. Tsuna raised a brow in skepticism but let her words slip from his mind as he resumed his talk, something Bianchi was grateful for.

"Since Vongola is in distress, especially when they don't know who performed the attack, they are making sure of everyone's loyalty, including myself. Shoichi-kun managed to find out the upper echelon of Vongola had a meeting. Eighty percent of them believed I was guilty in assisting the Millefiore." Tsuna rubbed his temples with a frustrated sigh.

"Are you sure it's worth keeping this information a secret instead of confessing?" Bianchi asked as she placed the phone on the desk beside Tsuna's bed. The brunet shook his head.

"Not yet. I know I will one day, but not now," Tsuna replied.

"Why not now?" He froze at the words for a few seconds before rubbing his hands together. Bianchi eyed the movement then she moved to ruffle the brunet's hair once more. "I understand. It's all right to be afraid. I'll be leaving now."

Tsuna raised his head with confused eyes as he watched Bianchi leave the room. After the door closed, he let out a long sigh and let his back hit the bed. The first meeting with Bianchi was over and it was more successful than he initially thought. Tsuna rolled onto his side and reached for his phone before putting it in his pocket. It was also more educational that he originally thought. Bianchi, like Reborn, was great at reading emotion through body language. However, he had a feeling that told him he would not need to act around her.

Yet that same feeling told him not to sleep, despite his body's wish. It was best to be refreshed for any training Reborn might throw at him, but that feeling persisted. Nevertheless, he eventually nodded off.

* * *

"Maigo no maigo no koneko-chan. Anata no ouchi wa doko desu ka?" In front of the television was a child with caramel eyes who held onto his rabbit stuffed-animal. He watched the animals on the screen move according to the song, never lifting his gaze until the commercial appeared. Then he quickly scrambled to his feet and headed towards the kitchen where his mother left some snacks before leaving to shop.

Tsuna placed his doll on one of the kitchen seats before reaching for the home-made _omochi_ covered in _kinako_. A small smile graced his lips before eating the sweet as the flour fell towards the floor. As he chewed his snack, his ears picked up the faint sound of the television and the voices outside. He dusted the flour off his fingers and picked up his doll while his attention slowly shifted to the voices, which grew louder for a few seconds. Then it stopped altogether.

His curiosity peaked when the doorknob twisted, but it soon turned to fear as he scampered to the hallway and hurriedly twisted the doorknob of the closet. He closed the door when the voices opened the entrance to the house.

"Are you sure this is the correct house?" Tsuna tightened his grip on his doll and held his breath while feeling his heart pound quickly. He heard the faint sound of the television and the click of the door locking.

"It must be. There's a photo of the Vongola's External Adviser over there." Tsuna froze when he heard the footsteps become louder. "I'll search upstairs. You two search here."

The footsteps pounded against the stairs, the sound reverberating in his head. After a couple of minutes passed, Tsuna could hear the faint sound of the television, the gruff voices of the strangers, and the clock on the wall ticking.

Tsuna turned his doll around slowly and grabbed the zipper on the back with trembling hands. He recalled his father's words as he tried to pull the zipper as quietly as possible. _Tsuna, when I'm gone, you're going to be the man of the house. Your job is to help out Nana._

Now he could help his mother by getting the strangers out of the house. Tsuna dug his right hand into the doll and grabbed onto something hidden in the cotton. He pulled it out as the doorknob began to turn. When light entered his vision, he acted.

"Gah!" Tsuna rushed out of the closet with his doll held close. He did not understand what he was doing as the blood rushed to his ears. His feet led him to the living room and saw another stranger rushing towards him. He raised his hand and prepared for another outcry.

"Why does a kid have a taser?" The stranger, Tsuna noted, was as tall as his father with balding hair. The brunet moved to shock him, but he evaded and grabbed a fistful of his locks. "Hey, I found the External Adviser's son!"

Tsuna attempted to use his taser on the stranger, but his arm was crushed, which caused his hand to release his weapon. He started clawing at the man in a futile attempt to break free but was pinned to the floor as his doll dropped beside him. All he could hear was the louder sound of the television, ticking of the clock, and his erratic breathing.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._ After four seconds, Tsuna tilted his head to the doorway. He saw another man, much like the one pinning him, except with a widow's peak. "Did you find the wife?" He knew what the man's answer would be and silently pleaded for his mother to not return from shopping soon.

"No. She must have left the house so we'll have to wait for her. Where's Jin?" Tsuna saw a shadow wobbling towards the widow-peak man with a hand clutching his head.

"Right here. The brat caught me off guard." He knew the man received a concussion and would be put at a disadvantage in a fight. The man with the stubble had excellent reflexes, but his feet did not move too much. That left the man with the widow's peak, which he assumed was the leader.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._ Tsuna noticed Jin moving towards him with a snide smile. The man crouched down and the brunet stared at the man's dark brown, almost black, eyes. "Do you know what's going to happen to you?" Tsuna continued to stare with his caramel eyes. "You're going to a meeting to see your father. Your safety will be traded for your father's life."

"What are you going to do with okaa-san?" Jin stood up and turned his back to Tsuna. The boy could sense the growing smirk on the man.

"She'll sell for a good price. Maybe I can knock her off a couple of times," he said with a mocking laughter. Tsuna's eyes widened as he heard the blood rush to his ears again.

"Jin, that's enough. We didn't come here to traumatize the kid," the man pinning Tsuna said. The brunet adjusted his head to see the silent leader with the widow's peak. He was looking at Jin with blank eyes as if he saw this scene multiple times in the past.

_Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._ Tsuna looked at the clock on the wall. There was only half an hour before Nana said she would come home. "I'm just answering his question with the truth. There's nothing wrong with that," Jin said. "And that's not the worst outcome for his mother."

The leader stood up just as Tsuna's breathing paused. While the men's eyes were on the man with the widow's peak, Tsuna looked at the man pinning him. His eyes narrowed while his mind blanked out. He did not understand what he was doing; he only thought of the sounds he heard earlier. He recalled the clock ticking, his hurried heartbeat, Jin's footsteps, the song on the television, and Jin's mocking laughter. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Tsuna did not realize when he was no longer pinned to the floor nor when he retrieved his taser. He did not remember how he ended up shocking the man with the stubble in his haze of hatred. He only realized what was happening when he felt an unbearable pain in his left shoulder.

_Bang._ "Gah!" Tsuna fell on his back while grasping his shoulder. His teeth gritted as he squeezed his eyes close. While his mind could not detect the voices in the background, he recognized the warm liquid coating his fingers. The blood began to rush in his ears again.

His eyes opened slowly as he tightened his grip on his shoulder, only to see a blurry face. He began counting to four as he gathered his strength. _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock._

"Let go, brat!" Tsuna pierced his nails into Jin's wrist, making the man release his gun. The brunet quickly reached for it, but when his fingers touched the cold metal, a hand desperately covered his mouth and tried pulling him back. Tsuna bit the hand and ignored the copper taste and outcry as he clutched the gun in his hand. "Give me my gun!"

Tsuna shook his head as he raised the gun with shaking hands to Jin's head. The sound of the television played in the background. "Get out," Tsuna said as he steadied his hands. His hardened gaze bore into the stranger's skull as the blood continued to rush in his ears.

"Drop the gun," the man with the stubble said. Tsuna's gaze did not move nor did his hands. _Click._

"I said, get out." His finger was touching the trigger, ready to shoot.

"You're just a brat. You won't really shoot," Jin said with a smirk appearing, his last one. He took a couple of steps forward and a step back before falling. _Bang._

"He's a fool," the man with the widow's peak said as he turned his gaze from the body to the brunet. "And you're just a kid."

The man with the stubble rushed towards Jin before pressing a finger to his neck to check for a pulse. Tsuna lowered the gun so it aimed at the man who turned towards him with tears starting to form. "Why did you kill him?"

As the man began to draw out his own gun, Tsuna lost to the haze of hatred and pulled the trigger. _Bang._

His mind was clouded as he moved his gun to the leader. He did not notice the soft smile or the pitying grey eyes. _Click._ "You're just a kid so I'm sorry for getting your hands tainted." _Bang._

* * *

"So that's what happened," Yamamoto said with his eyes drawn to the floor. Kyoko nodded her head, unable to speak as her throat contracted to deny her voice freedom. Hana tightly held Nana's hand and led her out of the room to recover. Gokudera's hand crept towards his pocket, wanting to bring out a cigarette to ease his tension. "No wonder why Tsuna seemed like a different person when he returned to school."

"Different?" Gokudera questioned as his hand stopped heading towards his pocket. He looked at Yamamoto's smiling face, but the smile did not reach his eyes and his forehead creased.

"Tsuna reminded me of oyaji," Yamamoto began. "Sometimes he looked sad, but there was always something about him that seemed mature."

"I guess that's why Hana accepted Tsuna-kun so quickly. She never liked immature people," Kyoko said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Yamamoto followed with a light laugh.

"Does she still think of me as a monkey?" Gokudera's hand slowly unclenched as he watched the two interact. _How can they go back to normal after learning more about Juudaime?_ Nevertheless, his shoulders relaxed as he looked once more at Yamamoto. _Yamamoto is not as dense as I thought. Maybe he could be Juudaime's..._ Gokudera hurriedly shook the thought away as Kyoko spoke.

"Maybe not anymore. But don't tell her I said this or she's going to kill me," Kyoko pleaded as she brought her hands together. She looked at the two before her and smiled. These two were definitely not "monkeys".

* * *

Tsuna stretched his limbs above his head and let a soft yawn escape his lips. He could not remember what he dreamt, but he did not want to know from what his intuition was telling him. He glanced at his watch; an hour passed from the meeting with Bianchi. Everyone should have been at the dining room, but he found no one familiar.

"Hahi!" Tsuna was tackled to the ground as he felt a weight steal the air from his lungs. He shut his eyes in an attempt to make the dizziness fade away. "Sorry! Tsuna-san, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Tsuna accepted the offered hand and slowly stood up while rubbing his head. "What's happening?"

"We were attacked by someone. You have to help Fuuta and Lambo-chan!" Haru said before grabbing Tsuna's wrist and leading the way. Tsuna patted his pockets to check for his switchblade. He did not want to take any more chances for another mistake to appear.

"Gupyah!" Tsuna looked up and saw Lambo quickly flying towards him. He pulled his hand away from Haru's grasp and caught the cow-child who began sobbing into his shirt. "Shipu-atama is being mean to Lambo-san!"

"Shipu-atama?" Tsuna slowly wrenched Lambo off of his shirt and into Haru's arms. "I'll go check on Fuuta before he flies off too." Lambo's wails became louder as Haru tried to calm the child.

As Tsuna walked away from Lambo's wailings, he could see Fuuta's distant eyes and someone floating above him. "I-pin ranks third out of 52,262 people for the potential of becoming a promising assassin." Fuuta's eyes came back into focus as the items around him dropped to the floor; then he opened his ranking book and began writing before noticing Tsuna. "Tsuna-nii! Do you have any glasses with you?"

"No. Why do you ask?" Tsuna walked towards Fuuta while keeping an eye on the girl.

"This girl is I-pin. She saw Lambo as a broccoli monster and Haru as a Namahage so I thought she might be near-sighted," Fuuta explained as he closed his ranking book. "She was afraid of them and sent them flying."

I-pin stared at Tsuna, trying to see what he was. The brunet took a few steps towards I-pin before crouching down to meet her eye level. Suddenly the girl pointed her finger at the brunet and said, "Porcupine."

Fuuta headed towards the two with his book in hand and did not notice Tsuna's twitching eye. "I-pin thought I was a squirrel. I think she likes animals so you're safe."

_But a porcupine?_ "Anyway, where did I-pin come from? She's still a child so I doubt she would be left alone on a ship full of mafiosi," Tsuna said before turning his attention to the girl. "I-pin, are you lost?" I-pin stared at Tsuna for a few seconds before looking around. Her movements became more frantic and suddenly she locked her hands around Tsuna's arm. The brunet let out a sigh as he picked her up. "Let's go back to Haru and Lambo. Then we can find the person traveling with I-pin."

* * *

*Maigo no maigo no koneko-chan. Anata no ouchi wa doko desu ka?- Little kitty little kitty. Where is your home? (This comes from an actual children's song named "Inu no Omawarisan", which translates to "Dog Policeman".)

*Omochi (or mochi) is a Japanese rice cake that is very sticky and often eaten as a snack. Kinako is known as roasted soybean flour and looks like a brown powder and is used to add flavor to the omochi. People usually dip the omochi in soy sauce and wrap it in nori (edible seaweed). Or at least that's how I grew up eating it.

* * *

A/N: I probably won't update until late-July because of finals and school ends very late. On another note, SOAMB is more than a year old now. I plan on celebrating that by rewriting the beginning chapters, but only in a way that does not interfere much with updates. Some things will change, but you don't have to reread it because I'll inform you of the changes in the authors notes.

Also, I'm planning on starting two to four more multi-chapter fanfics that will most likely affect the rate I update. I'm probably dooming myself, but SOAMB still takes number one priority. If you're interested in seeing the summaries, I'm posting it on my profile. I definitely think I'm incapable of writing a happy story.


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